Caloptilia aurantiaca
Encyclopedia
Caloptilia aurantiaca is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Madeira
and the Canary Islands
.
The larva
e feed on Hypericum canariense
, Hypericum glandulosum, Hypericum inodorum and Hypericum reflexum. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as an epidermal corridor, but later becomes a shallow tentiform mine. In the end, the larva lives freely under a folded leaf tip.
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 Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
and the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
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 Hypericum canariense
Hypericum canariense
Hypericum canariense is a species of St. John's wort known by the common name Canary Islands St. John's wort.-Distribution:It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it grows in the coastal scrub and moist forested slopes of the five westernmost islands...
, Hypericum glandulosum, Hypericum inodorum and Hypericum reflexum. 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 starts as an epidermal corridor, but later becomes a shallow tentiform mine. In the end, the larva lives freely under a folded leaf tip.