TL0549 : Horse Chestnut tree with leaf-miner
taken 7 years ago, near to Bedford, England
Horse Chestnut trees appear prematurely autumnal, with extensive leaf browning and fall. The larvae of a tiny moth, Cameraria ohridella, feed inside the leaves and cause the damage. The larvae pupate in disc-like cocoons which can be found in the leaf mines, between the upper and lower epidermis. The pupae are brown, about 3mm long. Apparently most of the damage is too late in the growing season to greatly affect the tree. Although only described, from Macedonia, in 1986 it has been found in herbarium specimens dating from 1879. It was first recorded in the UK in 2001-2 and has now been reported northwards to about Yorkshire.Link Link.
For the adult moth see SO7742 : Horse-chestnut leaf miner moth.