Stigmella continuella

Stigmella continuella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees, Alps and Hungary, and from Ireland to central Russia and Ukraine, east to the eastern part of the Palearctic realm.

Stigmella continuella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Stigmella
Species:	S. continuella
Binomial name
Stigmella continuella (Stainton, 1856)
Synonyms
Nepticula continuella Stainton, 1856 Stigmella uigurica Puplesis, 1985

The wingspan is 4–5 mm. The head is ferruginous-orange, the collar light yellowish. The antennal eyecaps are whitish-ochreous. The forewings are fuscous-bronze with a shining silvery fascia beyond middle, preceded by a rather dark purplish-fuscous fascia. The apical area beyond this is dark fuscous-purple. Hindwings grey.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Adults are on wing from May to August.

The larvae feed on Betula nana, Betula pendula and Betula pubescens. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a slender corridor. The first part is strongly contorted. The leaf tissue that is cut off is killed, resulting in a brown spot. Pupation takes place outside of the mine.^[4]