''Leucoptera genistae'' is a moth in the family

Lyonetiidae Lyonetiidae is a family of moths with some 200 described species. These are small, slender moths, the wingspan rarely exceeding 1 cm. The very narrow forewings, held folded backwards covering the hindwings and abdomen, often have pointed ap ...

. It is found in France, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. The larvae feed on ''

Genista anglica ''Genista anglica'', the petty whin, needle furze or needle whin, is a shrubby flowering plant of the family Fabaceae which can be found growing in Cornwall, Wales and eastern Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, ...

'' and ''

Genista germanica ''Genista germanica'', the German greenweed, is a plant species in the genus '' Genista'' belonging to the family Fabaceae. Distribution and habitat This species grows in Central Europe, Western Europe and Southern Europe Southern Europe is ...

''. They

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves of their host plant. The mines are undistinguishable from those of '' Leucoptera laburnella'' The mine starts as a densely contorted corridor, that quickly turns brown. It is followed by a more or less straight corridor entirely filled with greyish-green

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...

. Then it widens into a round blotch that overruns the earlier corridor and in the end may occupy half of a leaflet. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.

References

Leucoptera (moth) Moths described in 1933 Moths of Europe {{Leucoptera-stub