Caloptilia rhoifoliella
Encyclopedia
The Sumac Leafblotch Miner (Caloptilia rhoifoliella) is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Bermuda
, Canada
(Manitoba, Québec, Ontario) the United States
(including Mississippi, New York, Kentucky, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, Vermont, North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas and Louisiana).
The wingspan
is about 13 mm. Adults are on wing in September, November, March and April in Florida and in May in Texas.
The larva
e feed on Rhus species (including Rhus copallina
, Rhus lanceolata, Rhus toxicodendron and Rhus typhina
), Schinus terebinthifolia, Toxicodendron pubescens and Toxicodendron radicans. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a linear mine at either side of the leaf. It later becomes a tentiform mine and at the end the larva rather clumsily rolls the leaf downward from the 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 Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Manitoba, Québec, Ontario) the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Mississippi, New York, Kentucky, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, Vermont, North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas and Louisiana).
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. Adults are on wing in September, November, March and April in Florida and in May in Texas.
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 Rhus species (including Rhus copallina
Rhus copallina
Rhus copallina , Shining Sumac or Winged Sumac, is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family that is native to eastern North America. It is a deciduous tree growing to tall and an equal spread with a rounded crown...
, Rhus lanceolata, Rhus toxicodendron and Rhus typhina
Rhus typhina
The Staghorn Sumac is a deciduous shrub to small tree in the Anacardiaceae or Cashew family, native to eastern North America...
), Schinus terebinthifolia, Toxicodendron pubescens and Toxicodendron radicans. 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 a linear mine at either side of the leaf. It later becomes a tentiform mine and at the end the larva rather clumsily rolls the leaf downward from the tip.