Acrocercops panacifinens
Encyclopedia
Acrocercops panacifinens is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is about 10 mm for females and 8 mm for males.
The larva
e feed on Nothopanax arboreum. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine is a simple gallery, white in colour, on the upper surface of the leaf. It increases in width very gradually. The larva on hatching burrows immediately into the leaf, and heads in a more or less of a straight line till the margin or midrib of the leaf is encountered, after which this obstacle is closely followed. Its course invariably takes it close around the greater portion or entire margin of the leaf, closely following the digitations and any incursions made by other insects, and also along one or both of the sides of the midrib, this forming a barrier only in its basal three-quarters. The gallery then follows a more or less tortuous course within these boundaries. If the leaf is large it will rarely cross earlier parts of its own track, and will wander in a vermiform manner along one half of the leaf, generally that half opposite the one on which the egg was laid. In smaller leaves, almost the entire upper surface will be mined in a very complicated manner, but there is never any tendency to blotch formation. Loops may be thrown out from the straight central portion of the gallery against the midrib, but never blind branches. The frass
is black, very finely granular, and is irregularly distributed. As a rule it is deposited at the margins of the mine, alternately on either side in the early parts, but later is arranged in close curved lines, convex forwards, transversely across the gallery. In the final stages it tends to become somewhat fluid in character.
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 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 10 mm for females and 8 mm for males.
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 Nothopanax arboreum. 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 is a simple gallery, white in colour, on the upper surface of the leaf. It increases in width very gradually. The larva on hatching burrows immediately into the leaf, and heads in a more or less of a straight line till the margin or midrib of the leaf is encountered, after which this obstacle is closely followed. Its course invariably takes it close around the greater portion or entire margin of the leaf, closely following the digitations and any incursions made by other insects, and also along one or both of the sides of the midrib, this forming a barrier only in its basal three-quarters. The gallery then follows a more or less tortuous course within these boundaries. If the leaf is large it will rarely cross earlier parts of its own track, and will wander in a vermiform manner along one half of the leaf, generally that half opposite the one on which the egg was laid. In smaller leaves, almost the entire upper surface will be mined in a very complicated manner, but there is never any tendency to blotch formation. Loops may be thrown out from the straight central portion of the gallery against the midrib, but never blind branches. The 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...
is black, very finely granular, and is irregularly distributed. As a rule it is deposited at the margins of the mine, alternately on either side in the early parts, but later is arranged in close curved lines, convex forwards, transversely across the gallery. In the final stages it tends to become somewhat fluid in character.