Collected from Maryland, USA. None since 1913 apparently, but not widely searched for and many places still contain chestnut sprouts. No modern records. Effects of chestnut blight on only known foodplant are well known and catastrophic; on the other hand it is not certain the species is/was monophagous on American chestnut and even if it is/was, efforts to relocate this species have not been sufficient to virtually eliminate the possibility of rediscovery, especially considering the large potential range. While there is a strong possibility this species is extinct it would be premature to conclude that it is.
Has obviously declined drastically and has not been located by the few workers such as David Wagner who have really looked, nor apparently has it turned up in any collecting efforts directed at Microlepidoptera.
Survey of Leafminers on American Chestnut and other Castanea spp. (Fagales: Fagaceae) on Long Island, NY.
Of the 3 species listed by Opler (1978) as possibly extinct that have not been rediscovered or determined to be synonymous with species feeding on other hosts, only Coptotriche perplexa (Braun) is a leafminer. The other 2, Argyresthia castaneella Busck and Zimmermannia phleophaga (Busck), feed in bark (Busck 1915, Eiseman 2022). The larva of Z. phleophaga feeds near the cambium forming a serpentine mine that is not externally visible until after the larva exits and the bark over the tunnel begins to swell (Eiseman 2022).
