Caloptilia leucapennella

Caloptilia leucapennella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from all of Europe, except the Balkan Peninsula.

Caloptilia leucapennella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gracillariidae
Genus:	Caloptilia
Species:	C. leucapennella
Binomial name
Caloptilia leucapennella (Stephens, 1835)[1]
Synonyms
Gracillaria leucapennella Stephens, 1835 Povolnya leucapennella (Stephens, 1835) Coriscium citrinellum Zeller, 1839

The wingspan is about 13 mm. The posterior tibiae is smooth above. Forewings are pale whitish yellow, with some scattered minute black dots, variable in development; sometimes spots of grey strigulae, especially in disc;sometimes a ferruginous black -spotted median longitudinal streak from base of costa to apex. Hindwings are dark grey.[2] The typical form of the adult is a pale yellowish white, but there are variations, ranging to the rufous form F. aurantiella. Adults are on wing from July to October and overwinter.[3]

The larvae feed on evergreen oak (Quercus ilex) and common oak (Quercus robur). They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a narrow lower-surface epidermal gallery, that widens into an oval, eventually full depth blotch between two side veins. Older larvae live freely, at first in a folded leaf margin, later in a partly rolled leaf tip. They possibly prefer young leaves.[4]