Stigmella slingerlandella

Description

Plum Leaf Miner (Stigmella slingerlandella) is a moth of the Nepticulidae family. It is found in North America from Ontario, New York, Michigan and Ohio, possibly south to Florida. The wingspan is 3.5–5 mm. The larvae feed on Prunus species, including Prunus nigra and Prunus serotina species. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The larva first eats a narrow linear mine, then widens the mine so as to produce an irregular, more or less ovate blotch. Three to twelve mines are often found on a single leaf. When full grown the larva leaves the mine through a cut in the upper surface of the leaf, falls to the ground, and there constructs a small flattened brownish cocoon in cracks in the soil, under loose stones, or between the base of the tree and the surrounding soil.