Larvae of Acrocercops species are blotch leaf miners on various plants. Adults are long slender moths, most species of which are strikingly colored.
Acrocercops astericola (Fig. 1) makes a flat upperside blotch leaf mine on asters (formerly Aster spp.) (Asteraceae), including heartleaf aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium (formerly Aster cordifolius). The coloration of the adult moth is similar to that of another composite-feeding gracillariinae, Leucospilapteryx venustella.
Figure 1. Acrocercops astericola. Adult, reared from a leaf mine on heartleaf aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Asteraceae).
Acrocercops albinatella (Fig. 2) makes a blotch leaf mine on oak, Quercus sp (Fagaceae). In central Illinois, the adult flies in late June and early July.
Figure 2. Acrocercops albinatella. Adult, collected at light.
Acrocercops pnosmodiella (Fig. 3) has been collected as an adult at light in Mason County, Illinois (date, 17 May). The larva is a leaf miner on false gromwells, Onosmodium spp. (Boraginaceae), some of which are of conservation interest as prairie-restricted species (as is the moth, by association).
Figure 3. Acrocercops pnosmodiella. Adult, collected at light.