Eriocrania sparrmannella
Eriocrania sparrmannella also known as the mottled purple is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found in Europe and Japan. It was first described by the French entomologist, Louis [Augustin Guillaume Bosc] in 1791. The specific name honours the Swedish naturalist Anders Erikson Sparrman. The larvae mine the leaves of birch.
Description
The wingspan is. The head is pale grey, mixed with dark fuscous. The forewings are rather short and broad, pale shining golden and strongly and sharply strigulated with purple. There is a narrow erect dorsal spot of ground-colour before the tornus, reaching half across the wing; cilia grey, sometimes obscurely barred with ochreous-whitish. Vein 9 is absent. The hindwings are rather dark grey, towards apex purplish tinged. The larva is whitish with a brown head, sides blackish and two marks on segment 2 outlined with brown.[Image:Berezovaya-rosha-001.jpg|thumb|150px|left| Birch habitat. Russia]
Image:Hering [04.063.jpg|thumb|150px|left| Leaf mines]
The moth flies in April and May depending on the location, and can be found during the day flying around birch.
;Ovum
Eggs are laid on the leaves of birch.
;Larva
Larvae are whitish with a brown head. They feed inside a leaf, starting as a linear mine near the midrib, which widens to a blotch. The frass is in long threads. They hibernate in the soil.
;Pupa
The larvae pupate in a tough cocoon in the soil in the spring.