Acrocercops alysidota
Encyclopedia
The Wattle Miner is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from New South Wales
, Queensland
, Victoria
, Southern Australia
and Western Australia
as well as New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is about 8 mm. Adults have a fringe along the trailing edge of each wing. The fore wings have light and dark chevron markings, while the hind wings are golden brown.
The larva
e feed on Acacia longifolia
, Acacia melanoxylon, Acacia pycnantha and Acacia saligna
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long, narrow gallery on either side of the leaf. It is more or less tortuous in direction, and generally up and down the long axis of the leaf. The colour of the early part of the mine is white, with a thin brown or black central line of frass
. Later, it becomes a somewhat lighter green than the rest of the leaf-surface. This portion of the mine is loosely packed with fine frass granules. The cuticle over old mines rapidly dies and becomes brown. Badly infected leaves wither and fall from the tree. The final inch or so of the mine is often expanded into a somewhat irregular, narrow, elongated blotch.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella....
family. It is known from New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Southern Australia
Southern Australia
The term southern Australia is generally considered to include the States and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory...
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
as well as New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 8 mm. Adults have a fringe along the trailing edge of each wing. The fore wings have light and dark chevron markings, while the hind wings are golden brown.
The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e feed on Acacia longifolia
Acacia longifolia
Acacia longifolia is a species of Acacia native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include Acacia Trinervis, Aroma Doble, Golden Wattle, Coast Wattle,...
, Acacia melanoxylon, Acacia pycnantha and Acacia saligna
Acacia saligna
Acacia saligna, commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae...
. They mine
Leaf miner
Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...
the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long, narrow gallery on either side of the leaf. It is more or less tortuous in direction, and generally up and down the long axis of the leaf. The colour of the early part of the mine is white, with a thin brown or black central line of frass
Frass
Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...
. Later, it becomes a somewhat lighter green than the rest of the leaf-surface. This portion of the mine is loosely packed with fine frass granules. The cuticle over old mines rapidly dies and becomes brown. Badly infected leaves wither and fall from the tree. The final inch or so of the mine is often expanded into a somewhat irregular, narrow, elongated blotch.