Stigmella speciosa

Wingspan 4 to 5 mm. The adults of this tiny species have bronzy wings tinged with purple and a narrow silvery fascia. The larvae mine the leaves of Acer species such as Sycamore. The mine is a full depth corridor, quite variable in length and width. Also the frass pattern is very variable:  sometimes a narrow continuous line, sometimes a broad zone. Always there remains a clear zone between the frass and the side of the mine; also the frass is never coiled.

Adult Leafmine

Leafmine occurs on Sycamore. http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Lepidoptera/S.speciosa2.htm

Where the larval host plants occur.

Adults are on the wing in May and August.

Leaf mines usually occur in July and August, and again in September and October.

A species which is spreading north and west since its discovery in Hampshire in 1914. It has now extended its range to Yorkshire, though it is still scarce in the north. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common. 

Infrequent or under recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded).