The horse-chestnut leafminer was first collected and inadvertently pressed in herbarium sheets by the botanist Theodor von Heldreich in central Greece in 1879.

It appears that most of the damage caused by the moth occurs too late in the growing season to greatly affect tree performance.

Infected leaves are covered in small brown patches which spread rapidly across the entire tree, giving an autumnal appearance.

The moth is up to 5 millimetres (3⁄16 inch) long, with shiny, bright brown forewings with thin, silvery white stripes.

[6] Cameraria ohridella has now been found in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

[7] Although horse-chestnut occurs naturally mostly above the 700–1,000 m (2,300–3,300 ft) contours[3] the moth does well in well-watered places such as parks in cities and at low elevation but not well in the hotter parts of Europe e.g.

[7] Probably aided greatly by vehicular transport, the moth has attained a very rapid dispersal rate across Europe of 60 kilometres (40 miles) per year.

[1][5] A likely Balkan origin for this moth was evidenced from a decrease in genetic diversity from natural towards artificial horse-chestnut stands that were planted around Europe since around 1600.

The southern oak bushcricket (Meconema meridionale) has also been found to prey on C. ohridella, consuming around 10 larvae per day.

Fenoxycarb causes up to 100% pupal mortality, has low environmental toxicity and can be combined successfully with manual leaf removal.

[17] In any case, infestation levels could diminish over time as Cameraria ohridella starts to recruit generalist members of the local parasitoid wasp community.