Stigmella minusculella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855)
brown-tipped pigmy
on Pyrus

Pyrus communis, Belgium, prov. Luxembourg, Resteigne © Jean-Yves Baugnée
Pyrus communis, Luxemburg, Kautenbach

Pyrus spinosa, Rhodes (Nepticula embonella); from Klimesch (1978b)
mine
Egg at the underside of the leaf. The mine is a not very strongly contorted corridor, also not limited to a small portion of the leaf, and usually not forming a secondary blotch. Frass black. The frass line is very narrow, especially in the first section of the mine. In the second part the line may be broader, with the frass dispersed or indistinctly coiled, but always the width of the frass remains less than a third of the width of the corridor.
host plants
Rosaceae, monophagous
Pyrus communis, elaeagrifolia, spinosa; Sorbopyrus auricularis.
phenology
Larvae remarkably early in the year: June – July and August – September (Emmet, 1983a).
BENELUX
BE recorded (Phegea, 2009).
NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).
LUX recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).
distribution within Europe
From Denmark and Latvia to Iberia, Corsica, Italy, and Crete, and from Britain to the Ukraine (Fauna Europaea, 2009; Laštůvka & Laštůvka, 2009b, 2015a).
larva
Bright green; see Gustafsson & van Nieukerken (1990a) and Schoorl (1985a) for a description.
synonyms
Nepticula minusculella; Nepticula embonella Klimesch, 1978.
references
Anisimovas, Diškus & Stonis (2006a), Bengtsson (2008a), Borkowski (1969a), Buhr (1935b), Buszko & Baraniak (1989a), Černý (2001a), Corley, Rosete, Romão ao (2015a), Diškus & Stonis (2012a), Emmet (1983a), Gustafsson & van Nieukerken (1990a), Hering (1932g, 1957a), Huemer (1988a), Johansson ao (1990a), Kasy (1987a), Klimesch (1950c, 1956c, 1978b), Klimesch & Skala (1936c), Kurz (2016a), Kurz & Kurz (2007a), Laštůvka & Laštůvka (1997a, 2004a, 2009b, 2015a), Maček (1999a), Navickaitė, Diškus & Stonis (2014), van Nieukerken (1986a), van Nieukerken, Laštůvka & Laštůvka (2006a), De Prins & Steeman (2011a), Robbins (1991a), Schoorl (1985a), Schütze (1931a), Skala (1939a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Sobczyk & van Nieukerken (2021a), Sønderup (1949a), Starý (1930a), Steuer (1995a), Stonis, Navickaitė, Rocienė ao (2013a), Surányi (1942a), Szőcs (1977a, 1978a, 1981a), Triberti & Braggio (2011a) Sardinia.