Castanea sweet chestnut
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Castanea by Hans Roskam click here)
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine with an excision, either throughout, or only of the upper epidermis => 2
1b blotch, with a quickly widening preceding corridor => 3
1c a narrow corridor from start to end => 8
1d a narrow corridor, eventually widened into a primary blotch => 13
1e tentiform mine: Phyllonorycter messaniella
1f fleck mine => 15
1g galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine with an excision, either throughout, or only of the upper epidermis => 2
1b blotch, with a quickly widening preceding corridor => 3
1c a narrow corridor from start to end => 8
1d a narrow corridor, eventually widened into a primary blotch => 13
1e tentiform mine: Phyllonorycter messaniella
1f fleck mine => 15
1g galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a excision throughout the leaf, about the size of the mine itself: Incurvaria masculella
2b excision of only the upper epidermis, much smaller than the mine: Tischeria decidua
3a mine transparant, frass in long threads: Dyseriocrania subpurpurella
3b mine opaque and/or frass in granules => 4
4a mine full depth, < 1 cm: Incurvaria masculella
4b mine upper-surface, > 1 cm => 5
5a larva makes in the mine a discoid cocoon in which it often rests, curved in u-shape => 6
5b larva does not make a cocon, never resting in that position: Profenusa pygmaea
6a mine milk-white, sometimes with orange tinges; no concentric lines: Tischeria ekebladella
6b mine much darker (brown, grey, brick-red); with concentric darker arcs (frass) around some point at the side of the mine => 7
7a mine brick-red with brown-black arc lines (rather common): Tischeria dodonaea
7b mine yellowish-brown with greyish-green arc lines (rare): Tischeria decidua
8a corridor < 1 cm, hook-shaped, usually against the midrib => 9
8b corridor much longer => 11
9a mining larva: head yellowish white (rarely on this host plant): Bucculatrix thoracella
9b head light or dark brown => 10
10a pupa: abd. 2 dorsally with a transverse row of enlarged spines: Bucculatrix demaryella
10b such a transverse row of spines only on the more posterior segments: Bucculatrix ulmella
11a at the beginning of the egg a shining egg shell; mine clearly widening; larval chamber plump, < 3 times as long as wide => 12
11b no egg shell; corridor hardly widening; larval chamber slender, > 3 times as long as wide: Lyonetia clerkella
12a corridor filled over its whole width with coiled frass (green when fresh, later turning brown); larva green: Stigmella basiguttella
12b frass brown or black, not coiled, in a broad or narrow line, always leaving a transparant zone at the sides: Stigmella samiatella
13a the blotch has a cut at the leaf underside, through which most of the frass is expelled: Ectoedemia subbimaculella
13b no cut in the blotch => 14
14a corridor part of the mine runs in the direction of the midrib; larva with brown-black head; mostly in yellow, perhaps fallen, leaves in a green island: Ectoedemia heringi
14b corridor part runs parallel to, or away from, the midrib; larva with a pale brown head; usually in green leaves: Ectoedemia albifasciella
15a lobe case: Coleophora violacea
15b tubular leaf case: Coleophora lutipennella
15c pistol case: Coleophora anatipenella
Not included in the key: Acrocercops brongniardella; Caloptilia alchimiella, robustella; Coleophora flavipennella; Povolnya leucapennella.