Eucosmophora sideroxylonella is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Gracillariidae

Gracillariidae

Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella....

 family. It is known from Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

The length of the forewings is 3.4 mm for males and 3.8 mm for females.

The larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e feed on Lyonia fruticosa, Dipholis salicifolia

Dipholis salicifolia

Dipholis salicifolia, commonly called willow bustic or White Bully, is a species of flowering plant native to Florida, the West Indies and Central America. It was previously considered a member of the genus Sideroxylon, with the binomial Sideroxylon salicifolium...

, Manilkara jaimiqui, Sideroxylon foetidissimum

Sideroxylon foetidissimum

Sideroxylon foetidissimum, commonly known as False Mastic, is a species of flowering plant in the chicle family, Sapotaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States, the Caribbean, and northern Central America.-External links:...

, Sideroxylon celastrinum

Sideroxylon celastrinum

Sideroxylon celastrinum is a species of flowering plant in the sapodilla family, Sapotaceae, that is native to Texas and Florida in the United States south through Central America to northern Venezuela and Colombia in South America. Common names include Saffron Plum and La Coma. It is a spiny shrub...

and Sideroxylon pallidum. They mine

Leaf miner

Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...

the leaves of their host plant. The mine is found on the upperside of young leaves, drawing the leaf longitudinally into a roll or fold, which covers up the mine out of sight.