Caloptilia negundella
Encyclopedia
The Boxelder Leafroller (Caloptilia negundella) is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Quebec
and the United States
(including Colorado, Kentucky, New York, California, Maine, Ohio and Vermont).
The wingspan
is about 13 mm. The base colour of the wings is brown with gold and greenish scales. Yellow spots are found on the apex of the fore wing. Three black stripes of scales are found on the fringes of the hindwing. The body is brown and the head greenish.
Adults emerge in July and August and are active until winter. They then overwinter until spring to mate.
The larva
e feed on Acer negundo
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The first instar larvae make a narrow, linear mine along the underside of the leaflet. The mine crosses to the upper side to form a white spot until emerging. Final instars form a cone from the distal portion of the leaf and pupate 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 Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Colorado, Kentucky, New York, California, Maine, Ohio and Vermont).
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 13 mm. The base colour of the wings is brown with gold and greenish scales. Yellow spots are found on the apex of the fore wing. Three black stripes of scales are found on the fringes of the hindwing. The body is brown and the head greenish.
Adults emerge in July and August and are active until winter. They then overwinter until spring to mate.
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 Acer negundo
Acer negundo
Acer negundo is a species of maple native to North America. Box Elder, Boxelder Maple, and Maple Ash are its most common names in the United States...
. 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 first instar larvae make a narrow, linear mine along the underside of the leaflet. The mine crosses to the upper side to form a white spot until emerging. Final instars form a cone from the distal portion of the leaf and pupate inside.