Roeslerstammia erxlebella
Roeslerstammia erxlebella
Copper Ermel
Wingspan c.13mm. This distinctive metallic-golden micro has when fresh, a purplish-bronze tinge to the area around the base of the forewings. It also sports a noticeably yellow crown and has a white band close to the tip of the antennae. The larva mines the leaves of Lime in a short corridor that appears more like a blotch, at the leaf-edge and usually occupying the leaf-tip. It also occasionally mines Birch leaves. Later instars live freely on the leaf and pupate in a leaf-fold.
Larval stage: photograph the leaf mine with backlight; note host species in comments
Well wooded areas containing Lime and Birch.
There are two generations, at least in the south of the range, with adults on the wing in May and June and again in August and September.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Lime and Birch, mining the leaves when young.
Mainly distributed in the southern half of England, there are also scattered localities in Wales and in Scotland where the species occurs. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.
It is uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded)
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020



