Stigmella malella

The banded apple pigmy (Stigmella malella) is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in almost all of Europe, except Iceland and Norway.^[1]

Stigmella malella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Stigmella
Species:	S. malella
Binomial name
Stigmella malella = (Stainton, 1854)
Synonyms
Nepticula malella Stainton, 1854 Nepticula angustella Heinemann & Wocke, 1877 Nepticula nigrobrunella Groschke, 1939

The wingspan is 4–6 millimetres (0.16–0.24 in).The head is ferruginous-ochreous, the collar whitish. The antennal eyecaps are whitish, and the forewings dark fuscous with a shining white fascia beyond the middle. The hindwings are grey.^{[2] [3][4][5]}

Adults are on wing from April to August.

The larvae feed on Malus x astracanica, Malus baccata, Malus domestica, Malus floribunda, Malus fusca, Malus ringo, Malus sylvestris and sometimes Prunus. They mine the leaves of their host plant.^[6]