Ectoedemia minimella
Broken-barred Pigmy
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.
Pete Leonard
Stathern Woods, Terrace Hills
24 October 2020
leaf mine on birch
sue
Martinshaw Wood, southern ride west of swampy area
02 September 2021
sue
Martinshaw Wood, southern ride west of swampy area
02 September 2021
sue
Charley, Burrow Wood
06 October 2023
on Birch
Pete Leonard
Jubilee Way
19 October 2022
a vacated mine on Hazel, with a tenanted Stigmella microtheriella beside it
sue
Martinshaw Wood, southern ride west of swampy area
02 September 2021
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Species profile
- Common names
- Broken-barred Pigmy
- Species group:
- Moths
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Family:
- Nepticulidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 5
- First record:
- 20/10/2020 (Leonard, Pete)
- Last record:
- 06/10/2023 (Timms, Sue)
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