Caloptilia betulicola
Red Birch Slender
Wingspan 14 to 16 mm. Very similar to Caloptilia elongella, both species being quite variable.
Caloptilia elongella.
Gen det required for this species.
Areas with plenty of Birch – the larval foodplant.
There are two generations, flying in June and July, and then in September and October. The second brood overwinters as an adult and often reappears in the early spring.
The larval foodplant of C. betulicola is Birch, the larva mining the leaves initially and then living inside a rolled leaf in later instars.
Widespread in Britain but difficulty of identification means that is probably under recorded. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.
Seems to be occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Graham Calow
Sapcote, Harecroft Crescent
15 March 2021
confirmed by gen det
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Species profile
- Common names
- Red Birch Slender
- Species group:
- insect - moth
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Family:
- Gracillariidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1
- First record:
- 15/03/2021 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 15/03/2021 (Calow, Graham)
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% of records within its species group
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