Bucculatrix cristatella

Description

Bucculatrix cristatella is a moth of the Bucculatricidae family. It is found in most of Europe (except the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula). The wingspan is about 7 mm. Adults are on wing from May to June and again from July to August. There are two generations per year. The larvae feed on Achillea millefolium, Anthemis tinctoria, Chrysanthemum species and Leucanthemopsis alpina. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a very fine corridor along the leaf margin, mainly in the lower leaves. The frass is deposited in a narrow central line. The larva might abandon the mine and restart elsewhere. Older larvae live free, and feed by slicing open the margin of a leaf segment near its tip and eating away tissue, resulting in a number of full depth blotch mines. Last instar larvae feed freely on the leaf.