Greenbrier Leaf Miner - Proleucoptera smilaciella

*Tentative ID

Host: Smilax sp.

The larvae are seriously cute. Here's a video of them eating the leaf:

*Collected for rearing

comments (9)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Super cool. I think photos of living specimens are pretty rare and to see multiple individuals in live footage is unique and awesome. Well done! Posted 10 days ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! There has been low biodiversity and numbers of insects around here this summer, so I am focusing on leafminers. They never seem to be in short supply. Posted 8 days ago

NattyOne

Lion

Great shot Christine, round here we'd say "flaysome!" Posted 6 days ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks David! I will have to remember that term. ;P Posted 6 days ago
2. 1. NattyOne
    
    Lion
    
    Slipping into a bit of Cumbrian!! {;¬) Posted 6 days ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Cumbria is a canny place with all its fells and becks. ;) Posted 2 days ago
    2. 1. NattyOne
        
        Lion
        
        Exactly, as we say " Ga canny!" {;¬) Posted 2 days ago

erinmoore

Grizzly Bear

Very cool. Excellent capture and in motion too, munching away, cell by cell. I'd like to share it with all my master gardener friends! Posted 6 days ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks, share away. :) Posted 2 days ago

The Leucoptera smilaciella

The greenbrier leaf miner is a moth in the Lyonetiidae family. It is known from the United States, from Pennsylvania to Florida and Texas. The larvae feed on "Smilax" species. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a large, messy blotch.

Info 2 0

Similar species: Moths And Butterflies

Species identified by Christine Young