Stigmella lapponica

Description

Stigmella lapponica is a moth of the Nepticulidae family. It is found in most of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean islands), east to the eastern part of the Palearctic ecozone. The wingspan is 5–7 mm.The head is ferruginous-orange to blackish. Antennal eyecaps whitish. Forewings light fuscous with a somewhat oblique shining whitish-ochreous fascia at 2/3 ; apical area beyond this darker purple-fuscous; cilia round apex ochreous whitish except at base. Hindwings light grey. Adults are on wing in May. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on Betula humilis, Betula nana, Betula pendula and Betula pubescens (including Betula pubescens carpatica). They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a slender corridor that hardly widens. The first part is filled with frass. The mine mostly follows a vein over a long distance, but the larva is capable of crossing thick veins, even the midrib.