Caloptilia flava
Encyclopedia
Caloptilia flava is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from southern Russia
and Rhodes
.
The larva
e feed on Glycyrrhiza echinata. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a narrow, shallow corridor that may be so strongly contorted as to suggest a secondary blotch. This is continued into a lower-surface tentiform mine with a longitudinal fold, that causes the leaflet to curl over. Older larvae leave the mine and spin two leaflets together by connecting the upper surfaces. They then eat out these leaflets from the inside.
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 southern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
.
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 Glycyrrhiza echinata. 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 has the form of a narrow, shallow corridor that may be so strongly contorted as to suggest a secondary blotch. This is continued into a lower-surface tentiform mine with a longitudinal fold, that causes the leaflet to curl over. Older larvae leave the mine and spin two leaflets together by connecting the upper surfaces. They then eat out these leaflets from the inside.