Wingspan 5 to 6 mm.  The adult moths are very similar to Ectoedemia occultella, being blackish with whitish fascia and eyecaps.

Ectoedemia occultella.

Adult Leafmine  

Adults may require identification by gen det. Leafmine records need to be supported by images including one of the mine backlit.  Please state the host tree species.

Associated with Birch and Hazel.

There is one generation, with moths in May and June and larval mines from July to September.

The larvae feed on Birch and Hazel. The mine begins as a contorted gallery, when the young larva can be seen to have dark plates on each segment. These plates are later lost and the gallery becomes a blotch with scattered frass.

A fairly frequent, but sometimes local species occurring mainly in the south and west of England and parts of Scotland. It also occurs in south-west Ireland. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland.

http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Lepidoptera/E.minimella.htm

https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/lepidoptera/monotrysia/nepticuloidea/nepticulidae/ectoedemia/ectoedemia-minimella/