Gracillaria japonica 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 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (Honshū).

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 9.8-13 mm.

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 Ligustrum obtusifolium

Ligustrum obtusifolium

Ligustrum obtusifolium is a species of privet, native to Japan, Korea and China.It is a deciduous shrub growing to 3 m tall. The leaves are 1-6 cm long and 4-25 mm broad.There are three subspecies:...

and Ligustrum tschonoskii. 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. Young larvae make a solitary tentiform mine on the lower surface of the food plant. The mine being quite similar to that in some Phyllonorycter

Phyllonorycter

Phyllonorycter is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.-Diversity:The genus comprises about 400 species, with a worldwide distribution. The vast majority of species are found in the temperate regions, with about 257 species described from the Palaearctic region and 81 from the Nearctic...

species. In
later instars, it leaves the mine, then rolls up the leaf from the tip towards the underside, thus making a triangular cone as in many Caloptilia

Caloptilia

Caloptilia is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae.-Species:*Caloptilia acericola Kumata, 1966*Caloptilia acericolella Kuznetzov, 1981*Caloptilia aceriella *Caloptilia acerifoliella...

species. The cocoon is usually placed on the surface of the leaf. It is boat-shaped and whitish. The species probably hibernates in the adult stage.