Spotted tentiform leafminer, Michigan apples

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IPM Scouting in Michigan Apple

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Spotted tentiform leafminer - Phyllonorycter blancardella (Fabr.)

Spotted tentiform leafminer (STLM) has three generations a year in Michigan. First generation adults emerge around bud break (tight cluster in northwest MI) to lay eggs on the undersides of leaves. First egg hatch occurs 2 to 3 weeks later.

Pheromone traps can be used to determine first moth emergence. Second generation adults emerge mid-June; third generation adults in August.

Larvae feed on foliage with each larval mine disrupting 4 to 5 percent of leaf area. Fruit quality, size, retention, and set can be affected if enough area is lost to mining.


The first 3 larval instars are sap feeders, and are white to pale green, legless, wedge-shaped, and deeply segmented (about 1.5 mm).	The fourth and fifth larval instars are tissue feeders, and are more cylindrical, have legs and a typical caterpillar head capsule (about 5 mm; white to pale green).


Adult moths are small (3 mm long) with distinctive gold, black and white wing patterns	STLM eggs are attached to the underside of a leaf with a flattened surface. The exposed surface is a yellowish oval dome.	Leafminer mines in apple.

Spotted tentiform leafminer monitoring and thresholds

Additional information

For more monitoring information and evaluation of available pesticides:
Michigan Fruit Management Guide
A Practical Guide to Scouting Apple Orchards – a DVD showing how to scout apple orchards.
MSU Diagnostic Services for assistance in pest identification.
MSU Fruit Crop Advisory Team Alert newsletters for current pest/crop conditions.

This information was developed from A Pocket Guide for IPM Scouting in Michigan Apples by David Epstein, Larry J. Gut and George W. Sundin. Purchase this in a pocket-sized guide for reference in the orchard from MSU Extension (publication E-2720).

The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated 7/23/07