Chrysocercops thapai
Encyclopedia
Chrysocercops thapai is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Malaysia and Nepal
.
The wingspan
is 5.7-7 mm.
The larva
e feed on Shorea robusta. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a linear gallery occurring on the lower or rarely upper surface of the leaf. Later, after reaching the leaf-margin, it is broadened into a blotch usually elongate along the margin. Finally, in mature condition, the leaf margin with the mine is folded downward or rarely upward.
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 Malaysia and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
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 5.7-7 mm.
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 Shorea robusta. 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 gallery occurring on the lower or rarely upper surface of the leaf. Later, after reaching the leaf-margin, it is broadened into a blotch usually elongate along the margin. Finally, in mature condition, the leaf margin with the mine is folded downward or rarely upward.