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Sticker of Locust digitate leafminer moth
Bug card No. 2657 of 4,939

Locust digitate leafminer moth

Parectopa robiniella
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

This is a teeny tiny moth. Its caterpillar lives inside the leaves of black locust trees, eating a tunnel between the top and bottom of the leaf. It first came from North America.

Lives in
North America, and now many countries in Europe
Wingspan
5 mm (0.2 in)
Top speed
about 4.9 km/h (3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is far too small to hurt anyone.
What does it eat?
The caterpillars eat the inside of black locust tree leaves.
For real!Photo of Locust digitate leafminer moth
Picture by Gyorgy Csoka, Hungary Forest Research Institute, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Locust digitate leafminer moth wings about 5 mm tip to tip (0.2 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)
could fly across a whole football pitch in 77 seconds

How big is Locust digitate leafminer moth compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

With its wings open, it is only about 5 millimetres wide.

2

It was carried to Italy by accident and was first found there in 1970.

3

Since then it has spread to France, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine and many other countries.

4

In Hungary it has two or three families every year.

you asked

Most asked questions about Locust digitate leafminer moth

?What is a leafminer?

A leafminer is a tiny caterpillar that lives and eats inside a leaf, leaving a pale tunnel behind.

?Where does it come from?

It comes from North America but now also lives in many parts of Europe.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Parectopa robiniella
Group
Moths
Family
Gracillariidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Gracillariidae
Lives on
North America, Europe
Also known as
Locust digitate leafminer

Where the facts come from

  1. Parectopa robiniella (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Gyorgy Csoka, Hungary Forest Research Institute, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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