Ectoedemia atricollis

Description

Ectoedemia atricollis is a moth of the Nepticulidae family. It is found from Scandinavia to the Pyrenees, Italy, and Romania and from Ireland to Ukraine and the Volga and Ural regions of Russia. It has also been recorded from Tajikistan, where it is probably an introduced species. The wingspan is 5–6 mm. Adults are on wing in June. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus monogyna, Malus domestica, Malus sylvestris, Mespilus germanica, Pyrus communis, Prunus avium, Prunus cerasifera, Prunus insititia, Prunus mahaleb and Staphylea pinnata. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a full depth corridor that gradually widens into an irregular elliptic blotch. The corridor generally follows the leaf margin over a long distance. The frass is blackish brown in the corridor and black in the blotch. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.