Prays oleae

The wingspan is 11–15 mm.

The larvae are a pest on olives (Olea europaea) Other recorded food plants include Phillyrea, jasmine and Ligustrum. They mine the leaves of their host plant which initially consists of an upper-surface, short, narrow corridor. Later, in early spring, it may abandon this mine and create an irregular full depth blotch elsewhere on the leaf, or it may continue the corridor into a blotch. Most frass is ejected through a hole in the mine. Part of this frass is captured in spinning at the leaf underside.[1]

The moth is found in Southern Europe (the Mediterranean region) and North Africa. It was first found in Great Britain at a garden centre in Surrey in 2009 and has since been found at a light trap in Kent.[2]

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  Leafmines by Prays oleae larvae
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  Larva
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  Young larva
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  Older larva
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  Olive leaves mined by the young larva (2b, 2b*); olive shoot eaten by the mature larva (2b**)