Exoteleia dodecella

Wingspan 12 to 15 mm.  The larva mines pine needles, entering from a small hole below the leaf tip, which is then sealed with silk.  It feeds towards the needle tip, eventally causing a large mine in leaf-tip.  The larva is brown with a dark head. 

seveal other moth species mine pine needles

Adult leaf mine

Photograph mine in pine needle, including the mine openings; photograph larva. Note host species 

Occurs in conifer plantations.

The flight period is from June to July, and the moth can be attracted to light, but can also be disturbed from the foodplant by beating.

The larvae feed initially internally on the needles of pine (Pinus), and subsequently externally on the shoots, spinning the needles together.

Widely distributed throughout much of the British Isles but rather local. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.

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

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

https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/gelechioidea/gelechiidae/gelechiinae/teleiodini/exoteleia/exoteleia-dodecella/