Leucoptera albella, the cottonwood leaf miner, is a moth in the family Lyonetiidae. It is known from North America and is probably present throughout the commercial range of cottonwood.
| Leucoptera albella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lyonetiidae |
| Genus: | Leucoptera |
| Species: | L. albella |
| Binomial name | |
| Leucoptera albella (Chambers, 1871) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The larvae feed on Populus deltoides.[1] They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a brown, somewhat puffy leaf mine. After the larva finishes feeding, it leaves the mine and seeks out a depressed notch, usually at the midvein of a leaf where it pupates in a white silken cocoon that is overlaid with two transverse bands of silk. Periodic heavy infestations may destroy half the total leaf surface and reduce growth of young cottonwood.