Parornix scoticella

Description

Parornix scoticella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from all of Europe. The wingspan is about 10 mm. Adults are on wing in May and again in August in two generations in southern parts of the range and in one generation with adults in August in the north. The larvae feed on Cotoneaster nebrodensis, Malus sylvestris, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus chamaemespilus, Sorbus intermedia and Sorbus torminalis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts with a lower-surface epidermal corridor, but soon the larva starts feeding on the sponge parenchyma. The mine then becomes a flat lower-surface blotch. After leaving the mine, the larva lives freely under a folded leaf margin or in a fold at the underside of the leaf, in its centre, that is covered with silk.