Diagnosis. Very similar to Western European S. ilicifoliella. The latter usually is darker and has the androconial scales extending to tip of hindwings, whereas cocciferae has no androconial scales in distal 1/4; further androconials in S. cocciferae paler and shorter than in ilicifoliella. Male genitalia: in S. ilicifoliella the capsule and valvae are markedly wider than in cocciferae and gnathos horns are club-shaped; in S. ilicifoliella the manica covers the aedeagus almost completely and in cocciferae only distal 2/3. Female genitalia very similar to S. suberivora and ilicifoliella, but bursa in suberivora and ilicifoliella much longer compared to accessory sac than in cocciferae.
Description. Male. Forewing length 2.2-3.2 mm, wingspan 4.9-7.0 mm. Head: frontal tuft yellowish orange, collar fuscous. Scape pale yellow. Antenna dark bronze brown, 3/4 of forewing length, with 36-49 segments, ratio to forewing length 13-19 segments/mm. Thorax and forewing unicolorous dark bronze brown, weakly shining; terminal cilia concolorous, slightly paler at tip; underside bronze-brown. Hindwing coarsely scaled, fuscous, distal 1/4 brown, basal 3/4 of dorsum with long dark grey-brown androconial scales, extending into fringe, the longest near base, approximately 2/3 of cilia length; along basal half of costa long curved, spatulate bluish-black androconial scales, the longest as long as or longer than the shortest dorsal androconial scales; underside grey brown, cilia dark grey. Abdomen dark grey brown, with pale yellowish anal tufts inserted on well sclerotized plates.
Female. Forewing length 2.2-2.9 mm, wingspan 4.9-6.2 mm. Antenna with 30-37 segments, ratio to forewing length 12-15 segments/mm. As male, but collar pale yellow, hindwing grey, androconial scales absent, abdomen dark grey, without anal tufts.
Male genitalia. Measurements: see table 3. Capsule relatively narrow compared to related species. Vinculum bilobed anteriorly. Uncus with widely separated horns. Gnathos with long, widely separated posterior processes. Valva with pointed distal process less than 1/4 valva length, in lateral view medial; inner margin almost straight with almost rectangular distal angle; sublateral processes about 1/3 transtilla length. Aedeagus with vesica with a more or less curved group of cornuti in basal half; this band comprises about 35-40 large cornuti with serrated bases and many small spinelike cornuti; more distally there is a group of ca 12 long needle-shaped cornuti and one larger near phallotrema; manica covering distal 2/3 of aedeagus, covered with small spines and pectinations.
Female genitalia. T8 with more than 20 setae. Bursa well visible, total length 1050-1120 μm, 2.4-2.6 as long as accessory sac; walls thin, without pectinations. Accessory sac more strongly sclerotized, without pectinations. Ductus spermathecae with ca 6-7 convolutions.
Hostplant. Quercus coccifera. It was twice reared from this host and in Greece otherwise always collected near Q. coccifera, often with vacated mines.
Leafmine. A broad gallery with broad frass, egg on leaf upperside. Similar to that of S. suberivora.
Widespread in Eastern Mediterranean: mainland Greece, Aegean islands, Crete, Turkey and Israel. Occurs from sea level up to 1800m in Taurus. To be expected in Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon. It seems to occur completely vicariantly with S. suberivora, of which the closest records are in south Croatia (Zadar). No records of either species are known between northern Greece and Zadar.
Life-history. Probably bivoltine, or even with more generations. Larva collected in February, adults flying in April-July and September-October.
This taxonomic description is based on Van Nieukerken (2003).