| Stigmella luteella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nepticulidae |
| Genus: | Stigmella |
| Species: | S. luteella |
| Binomial name | |
| Stigmella luteella (Stainton, 1857) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Stigmella luteella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in all of Europe, except the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula.
The wingspan is 4–5 mm.A small bronze-coloured moth. The antennae is filamentous, dark and barely half as long as the forewing. The innermost, greatly expanded joint is white. The head is yellow-haired, the body dark. The forewings are glistening, bronze-brown with a rather broad, silvery-white transverse band at about two-thirds of the wing. The hind wing is narrow, grey, with long fringes. [1] The species is very similar to several other Stigmella species and cannot be determined with certainty from external appearances alone.Microscopic examination of the genitalia is required. [2] [3]
This species has larvae that mine in the leaves of Betula pendula and other birches. The species probably only has one generation each year, the adult butterflies fly in May-June. The larva makes an irregular, 3-4 centimeter long mine in the birch leaf.
