Stigmella suberivora

Wingspan about 6 mm. The adults are dark grey/blackish with a faint purplish tinge and a yellow head.

Adult Leafmine but best to refer leafmine for confirmation before recording.

Leafmine occurs on Holm Oak. http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Lepidoptera/S.suberivora.htm

Areas where Holm Oak is present.

May to July and August to September.

The eggs are laid on the upper surface of the leaves of Holm Oak, and the yellow larva creates a fairly broad mine almost filled with frass. A bivoltine species with larvae mining leaves during mid-summer and again during the winter-spring period.

It is found mainly in southern England but apparently rather local. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.

It appears to be uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland, where there are few records. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded).