Trophic Specialization of the Leaf Blotch Miner Moth Acrocercops brongniardella (Fabricius, 1798) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae)

Published and original data on the trophic relationships of the leaf blotch miner moth Acrocercops brongniardella (Fabricius, 1798) (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) was analyzed. The leaf miner develops on 17 species of the genus Quercus L. (Q. castaneifolia, Q. cerris, Q. coccifera, Q. dalechampii, Q. faginea, Q. ilex, Q. ithaburensis, Q. lusitanica, Q. macranthera, Q. montana, Q. mongolica, Q. petraea, Q. pubescens, Q. pyrenaica, Q. robur, Q. rubra, and Q. suber) of the family Fagaceae; i.e., it is a narrow oligophage. The oak Q. montana was reported as a food plant for the first time. The main forage plant of the miner in Europe is Q. robur. An experimental assessment of the average mine area of A. brongniardella with changes in the ecological density of the miner was carried out during 2023 in a floodplain oak forest (Quercus robur L.) of the Siva River, Votkinsk district, Udmurt Republic. At the ecological density of one A. brongniardella caterpillar per leaf, the mine area on Q. robur averaged 499.1 ± 22.5 mm². This area significantly decreases with an increase in ecological density.