Last modified: March 20, 2024, 12:17 p.m.
A very rare and local species in Belgium, not often recorded.
Native
Wingspan 10–12 mm. The adults can be attracted by the pheromone originally developed for Cydia pomonella.
The larva mines the branches and trunk of the host plant. The mines are full of frass and reaches the phloem. The plant tissue around the mine becomes loose, slightly swollen, somewhat sponge-like, this tissue is consumed by the larva.
Mines can be found on branches and trunks. Hibernates as mature larvae and pupate in early spring. Adults come to light.
The adults are on the wing from mid-June towards mid-September in two generations a year.
The larva lives on Juniperus and on various cultivated conifers (Cupressaceae) such as Cupressocyparis leylandii, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana and Platycladus orientalis.
It inhabits gardens and parks planted with cultivated conifers and on calcareous ground with Juniperus.