Laburnum Leaf Miner

Laburnum Leaf Miner - Leucoptera laburnella

Alternative names
Laburnum Leaf-miner
Description

Wingspan 7 to 9 mm. A small but very attractive mainly white moth.  The larvae mine Laburnum leaves, beginning with a narrow gallery abruptly widening into a large blotch marked with concentric arcs of frass.

Identification difficulty

Adult Leafmine

ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Leafmine occurs on Laburnum (occasionally on Lupin). 

Recording advice

Backlit photo of the mine; state host species in comments

Habitat

It tends to inhabit suburban areas where Laburnum is grown in gardens, and in conjunction with a couple of dipterous species, can discolour the leaves with its mines.

When to see it

May to August.

Life History

The larva mines the leaves of Laburnum, including hybrids, and occasionally Dyer's Greenweed. The mine is initially a brown spot, turning via a green frass-filled gallery into a pale blotch with a spiral of black frass.

UK Status

Distributed widely and fairly commonly throughout much of the British Isles. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

VC55 Status

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

Reference
21.004 BF254

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records