Stigmella lapponica

Stigmella lapponica is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in most of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean islands), east to the eastern part of the Palearctic ecozone.[1]

Stigmella lapponica mine

The wingspan is 5–7 mm. The head is ferruginous-orange to blackish. Antennal eyecaps whitish. Forewings light fuscous with a somewhat oblique shining whitish-ochreous fascia at 2/3 ; apical area beyond this darker purple-fuscous; cilia round apex ochreous whitish except at base. Hindwings light grey.[2] Adults are on wing in May. There is one generation per year.[3]

The larvae feed on Betula humilis, Betula nana, Betula pendula and Betula pubescens (including Betula pubescens carpatica). They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a slender corridor that hardly widens. The first part is filled with frass. The mine mostly follows a vein over a long distance, but the larva is capable of crossing thick veins, even the midrib.[4]