The Macadamia Leaf Miner (Acrocercops chionosema) 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 Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

.

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 about 6 mm. Adults have dark forewings with three white bars across per wing. The hind wings are very narrow and have an extensive plume of hairs along the inner margin.

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 Macadamia

Macadamia

Macadamia is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia , New Caledonia and Sulawesi in Indonesia ....

species (including Macadamia integrifolia

Macadamia integrifolia

Macadamia integrifolia is a tree in the Proteaceae family, native to Queensland in Australia. Common names include Macadamia Nut, Bauple Nut, Queensland Nut or Nut Oak....

and Macadamia tetraphylla

Macadamia tetraphylla

Macadamia tetraphylla is a tree in the Proteaceae family, native to Queensland in Australia. Common names include Macadamia Nut, Bauple Nut, Prickly Macadamia, Queensland Nut, Rough-shelled Bush Nut and Rough-shelled Queensland NutThis species has dense foliage and grows up to 18 metres in height...

) and Stenocarpus

Stenocarpus

Stenocarpus is a genus of around 25 species of woody trees or shrubs of the family Proteaceae, occurring in rainforests of Eastern and monsoonal areas of Northern and North-Western Australia with 2 extending into New Guinea and the Aru Islands, with the greatest diversity occurring in New...

species (including Stenocarpus salignus

Stenocarpus salignus

Stenocarpus salignus, known as the Scrub Beefwood is an Australian rainforest tree in the Proteaceae family. Found in warmer rainforests on the coast and ranges. It is often found in warm temperate rainforest on poorer sedimentary soils, or on volcanic soils above 750 metres above sea level...

). 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 has the form of a large blotch mine on the upperside of the leaf. Older larvae leave the mine to pupate in a cocoon nearby.