Bug FAQEriocraniella mediabulla
Eriocraniella mediabulla · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Eriocraniidae
Source: Wikipedia
Adults have uniformly black forewings with a golden to bluish shine and slightly paler hindwings with a purplish luster. They are active from early March to mid-April, producing one generation each year. Larvae feed on several oak species, mining the leaves and causing damage.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Hindwings are a slightly lighter fuscous color with a clear purplish shine along the front half.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Male forewings measure about 3.8 to 4.1 mm long. Female forewings are slightly shorter, about 3.3 to 3.7 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on several oak species, including black oak and possibly post oak, white oak, southern red oak, and live oak. They create mines inside the leaves of their host oaks.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from early March to mid-April, producing one generation per year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults appear from early March through mid-April.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain from northeastern Texas and Louisiana up through Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
Questions people ask
When are the adults active?
Adults fly from early March to mid-April, with only one generation each year.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
The larvae mine the leaves of various oak trees, feeding on the leaf tissue.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Eriocraniidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriocraniella_mediabulla
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.