Ectropina raychaudhurii
Encyclopedia
Ectropina raychaudhurii is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from India
(Tamil Nadu).
The wingspan
is 5.3-6.6 mm.
The larva
e feed on Phyllanthus niruri
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The first instar larva mines the lower layer of spongy parenchyma just above the lower epidermis, and makes a small blotch-mine or sometimes a linear mine along the leaf-vein. In the second instar, the larva broadens the mine into a large blotch, which finally occupies almost the full area between two branching veins. Up to this stage, the mine is flat and seen only on the lower surface of the leaf, the mining part being whitish in colour. In the
third and fourth instars, the larva which has been transformed into tissue-feeding type, feeds on the remaining tissues within the blotch-mine. The tissues are consumed by the fourth instar larva, thus the upper epidermis of the mining part is completely separated from the lower and turns pale or deep brown in colour. The fully matured mine is slightly contorted by larval
silken threads into a tentiform one. The fifth instar larva leaves the mine and migrates to another leaf, which is usually located more distally on the branch. It cuts the leaf from the edge towards the midrib. The part cut off is rolled up from the edge to form a cone on the underside of the leaf, then the larva continues to feed inside the cone. The larva passes two instars within this cone, or may changes the leaf to make another cone. When fully grown, the larva forms a whitish, spindle-shaped cocoon inside the cone, which has a small, round, semitransparent window on the side near the base.
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 India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(Tamil Nadu).
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 5.3-6.6 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 Phyllanthus niruri
Phyllanthus niruri
The annual herb Phyllanthus niruri is best known by the common names Stonebreaker, Chanca Piedra and Quebra Pedra, Seed-Under-Leaf but has many other common names in assorted languages, including dukong anak, dukong-dukong anak, amin buah, rami buah, turi hutan, bhuiaonla, Meniran ,...
. 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 larva mines the lower layer of spongy parenchyma just above the lower epidermis, and makes a small blotch-mine or sometimes a linear mine along the leaf-vein. In the second instar, the larva broadens the mine into a large blotch, which finally occupies almost the full area between two branching veins. Up to this stage, the mine is flat and seen only on the lower surface of the leaf, the mining part being whitish in colour. In the
third and fourth instars, the larva which has been transformed into tissue-feeding type, feeds on the remaining tissues within the blotch-mine. The tissues are consumed by the fourth instar larva, thus the upper epidermis of the mining part is completely separated from the lower and turns pale or deep brown in colour. The fully matured mine is slightly contorted by larval
silken threads into a tentiform one. The fifth instar larva leaves the mine and migrates to another leaf, which is usually located more distally on the branch. It cuts the leaf from the edge towards the midrib. The part cut off is rolled up from the edge to form a cone on the underside of the leaf, then the larva continues to feed inside the cone. The larva passes two instars within this cone, or may changes the leaf to make another cone. When fully grown, the larva forms a whitish, spindle-shaped cocoon inside the cone, which has a small, round, semitransparent window on the side near the base.