Phyllocnistis insignis

Phyllocnistis insignis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gracillariidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. It damages garden plants by mining their leaves.

Source: Wikipedia

Phyllocnistis insignis
Photo: Even Dankowicz, CC BY

Phyllocnistis insignis is a small moth in the Gracillariidae family. It occurs throughout the United States, from Maine to California.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Phyllocnistis insignis belongs to the moth family Gracillariidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

The leaf mines appear as long, narrow, linear, winding tracks on the upper side of the leaf.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range covers the United States, with records from the same states listed for its habitat.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 36 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Tennessee.

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

Source: GBIF

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

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Phyllocnistis insignis photo 3
Photo: Antonia Bookbinder, CC BY-SA
Phyllocnistis insignis photo 4
Photo: CatherineK, CC BY-SA
Phyllocnistis insignis photo 5
Photo: Even Dankowicz, CC BY
Phyllocnistis insignis photo 6
Photo: Evan M. Raskin, CC BY

Same family (Gracillariidae)

Horse-chestnut LeafminerHorse-chestnut LeafminerCameraria ohridellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsAspen Serpentine Leafminer MothAspen Serpentine Leafminer MothPhyllocnistis populiellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsLocust Digitate Leafminer MothLocust Digitate Leafminer MothParectopa robiniellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsPoison Ivy Leaf-miner MothPoison Ivy Leaf-miner MothCameraria guttifinitella

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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.