Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth

Phyllonorycter tiliacella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gracillariidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth
Photo: Rose Zappa, CC BY

The leaf mines made by the larvae are white and densely speckled with dark brown. The caterpillars feed on basswood trees such as Tilia americana.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Mines appear white with many dark brown speckles.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae eat leaves of Tilia species, for example Tilia americana.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The summer generation pupates in a thin silken web and overwinters as a pupa, later spinning a denser cocoon attached above and below.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Native to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Michigan.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth photo 2
Photo: Rose Zappa, CC BY
Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth photo 4
Photo: Rose Zappa, CC BY
Basswood Round-blotch Miner Moth photo 5
Photo: Eric Schmidt, CC BY

Questions people ask

What do the leaf mines look like?

They are white and densely speckled with dark brown.

Source: Wikipedia

Which trees do the larvae feed on?

They feed on basswood trees, especially Tilia americana.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Gracillariidae)

Horse-chestnut LeafminerHorse-chestnut LeafminerCameraria ohridellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsAspen Serpentine Leafminer MothAspen Serpentine Leafminer MothPhyllocnistis populiellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsPhyllocnistis vitegenella complexPhyllocnistis vitegenella complexPhyllocnistis vitegenellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsLocust Digitate Leafminer MothLocust Digitate Leafminer MothParectopa robiniellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsPoison Ivy Leaf-miner MothPoison Ivy Leaf-miner MothCameraria guttifinitellaPhyllocnistis insignisPhyllocnistis insignisDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllonorycter_tiliacella

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.