''Gracillaria syringella'' (lilac leafminer or privet leafminer) is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Gracillariidae Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, ''Camerar ...

. It is found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It has been introduced in North America. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 10–13 mm. The forewings are light yellowbrownish, towards base with whitish and dark fuscous strigulae ; an oblique interrupted fascia about 1/4, a somewhat angulated median fascia (sometimes followed by a small costal spot), a tornal spot, a spot on costa beyond, and costal and terminal dots near apex white, black-margined ; a blackish discal suffusion beyond middle. Hindwings are rather dark grey.The larva is whitish, sometimes greenish-tinged ; dorsal line darker green ; head brownish-tinged.Meyrick, E., 1895 ''A Handbook of British Lepidoptera'' MacMillan, Londo
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Keys and description The moth flies in May and again in July depending on the location. The caterpillars feed on ash ('' Fraxinus''), privet (''

Ligustrum A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

'') and lilac (''

Syringa ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly ...

'')

References

External links

Lepiforum.de
* Gracillariinae Leaf miners Moths described in 1794 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Gracillariinae-stub