Perittia obscurepunctella

Wingspan about 9 mm. A small, indistinctly marked moth. 

The larvae mine Honeysuckle, creating a large blotch mine

Adult Leafmine

Adult: Gen det required.  

Leafmine: Please provide photographs including a back-lit photograph showing the frass pattern. Please also state the host plant.

Inhabiting open woodland, and areas where Honeysuckle is present.

The adult moths are diurnal and fly in April and May, especially in sunshine.  Mines are to be found between June and August.

The larval foodplant is honeysuckle (Lonicera), and the larva forms a translucent blotch mine on the leaves, with a dark reddish-brown central spot where the frass accumulates.

Distributed widely, but thinly across most of England, becoming less common in the norther parts of its range. It also occurs scarcely in Wales and Ireland. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as Nationally Scarce B.

Rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. The Bagworth record of 1st July 2023 is the first record for VC55.