Diagnosis. Externally Ectoedemia alnifoliae is similar to E. rufifrontella, but is overall more uniform, has fewer pale scales and is more distinctly yellow. The male genitalia most resemble those of the E. albifasciella complex, but the valva is more “bulging” distally; the valva reminds of E. haraldi, but that has an overall concave inner margin and a divided gnathos. The female genitalia differ from those of E. rufifrontella by having just two convolutions in the ductus spermathecae against ca 13–14 in rufifrontella, female genitalia hardly separable from those of haraldi.
Redescription. Male. Forewing length 2.0–3.0 mm, wingspan 4.5–6.7 mm. Head: frontal tuft orange, collar ochreous; scape white, often with some darker scales; antenna brown, with 36–44 segments. Thorax and forewing unicolorous, covered with coarse brown scales, less dense in tornus, and few pale scales; cilia-line distinct; terminal cilia silvery white; underside brownish grey. Hindwing and cilia dark grey, hindwing with costal bristles, no hairpencil. Abdomen fuscous, anal tufts ochreous.
Female. Forewing length 2.2–3.0 mm, wingspan 4.9–6.6 mm. Antennae with 27–31 segments.
Male genitalia. Capsule length 230–310 μm. Vinculum slightly concave anteriorly. Tegumen distinctly produced in a hemispheric pseuduncus, with simple long setae. Gnathos with central element short, with blunt, truncate tip, not separated in two parts; lateral processes long. Valva length 175–220 μm, broad with distal process pointed and strongly curved inwards, outer margin slightly bulged, inner margin in middle distinctly convex, with long setae on dorsal surface and on caudal part, sublateral processes more than one third transtilla length. Aedeagus 250–300 μm long, with distinct cathrema, numerous very small cornuti in vesica, carinae simple, elongate.
Female genitalia. T7 without row of setae. T8 with two lateral groups of scales and a few setae; posterior margin slightly indented, with rounded corners. Anal papillae with ca 15–20 setae. Vestibulum with vaginal sclerite, a prominent spiculate pouch and a group of densely packed pectinations near entrance of ductus spermathecae. Corpus bursae ca. 650–770 μm, without pectinations; signa different in length and shape, longer 460–540 μm, shorter 365–480 μm. Ductus spermathecae with 2 very indistinct convolutions [in diagnosis in original description incorrectly given as 3].
Hostplants: evergreen oaks: Quercus coccifera L. and Q. alnifoliae Poech (Cyprus).
Leafmines. Egg usually on leaf upperside, on underside in Cyprus specimen. Leafmine a much contorted gallery, usually confined to small part of the leaf; mine following short straight courses and often turns suddenly ca. 90 degrees or more, often doubling back, in this way using up the majority of a small portion of the leaf; last part of the mine a wide gallery, wider than larva, resembling a blotch; frass black and almost completely filling the narrow gallery part, a bit more dispersed in final part.
In Turkey similar to more or less sympatric E. haraldi, but E. alnifoliae mines tend to be more contorted and angulated than those of haraldi.
Larva. White with greenish or yellowish tinge, brown head and prothoracic shield, distinct row of ventral ganglia. In earlier instars row of ventral plates absent.
Cyprus, new records for Turkey (south coast and east, Hakkari) and Greece: Samos. Apparently widespread in eastern Mediterranean region.
Life history. Larvae found in early March, adults found in second half of April and May, in indoor breedings emerging from March. Most likely univoltine.
This taxonomic description is based on Van Nieukerken (1985) and Van Nieukerken et al (2010).