Ectoedemia albifasciella

Ectoedemia albifasciella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in all of Europe except the Mediterranean Islands. In the east it ranges to the Volga and Ural regions of Russia.

Ectoedemia albifasciella mine

Ectoedemia albifasciella
Ectoedemia albifasciella, Wepre, North Wales, July 2013
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Ectoedemia
Species:	E. albifasciella
Binomial name
Ectoedemia albifasciella (Heinemann, 1871)
Synonyms
Nepticula albifasciella Heinemann, 1871 Nepticula subapicella Stainton, 1886 Dechtiria albifasciella (Heinemann, 1871)

The wingspan is 5–6 mm. The head is orange and the forewings are dark brownish with a broken creamy fascia. Adults are on wing in June.

The larvae feed on Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens, Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus robur, Quercus rubra and occasionally also on Castanea sativa. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a narrow corridor, with a broad frass line, running along a vein. The corridor runs away from the midrib most of the time, but might run along the midrib. The corridor widens abruptly into a blotch filled with frass. There are several mines in a single leaf most of the time. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.