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The azalea leafminer, Caloptilia azalealla (Brants). A cool-season pest, the azalea leafminer deposits eggs on the underside of the leaf along the midrib. The azalea leafminer is a leafminer only for the first half of its larval life. The early larval instar mines between the leaf surfaces. Later it rolls the leaf over its body and continues to feed on the leaf surface. The larva is then known as a leaftier. When mature, a larva often selects an undamaged leaf, rolls up in it and pupates. The adult moth emerges in about one week, mates and begins the cycle again.
Common host plants: azalea