Ketapangia leucochorda
Encyclopedia
Ketapangia leucochorda is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from India
(Karnataka, Maharashtra), Japan
(Ogasawara Islands) and Kiribati
(the Gilbert Islands).
The wingspan
is 7.1-8.2 mm.
The larva
e feed on Terminalia catappa
and Terminalia chebula
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a linear-blotch mine on the lower side of food plant. The linear part of the mine is made by the young larva and is epidermal and is usually running from the median area near the mid vein to the leaf-edge with an irregularly curved trace. The blotchy part is elongaged along the leaf-edge, with parenchymal tissues within this part almost eaten by the larva. Finally, the leaf-edge at the blotchy part is narrowly folded down causing the lower epidermis the to shrink over the mining part. The full-grown larva emerges from the mine to make a cocoon outside. The cocoon is usually placed on the lower side of the leaf, mostly at the side of the mid or lateral vein. It is boat-shaped, whitish, partly stained by grains of frass
and covered by five to seven bars of silken threads, without bubbles or globules.
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...
(Karnataka, Maharashtra), Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(Ogasawara Islands) and Kiribati
Kiribati
Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...
(the Gilbert Islands).
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 7.1-8.2 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 Terminalia catappa
Terminalia catappa
Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the Leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. The tree has been spread widely by humans and the native range is uncertain. It has long been naturalised in a broad belt extending from Africa to Northern Australia and New Guinea through Southeast Asia and...
and Terminalia chebula
Terminalia chebula
Terminalia chebula is a species of Terminalia, native to southern Asia from India and Nepal east to southwestern China , and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Vietnam.It is a deciduous tree growing to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter...
. 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 linear-blotch mine on the lower side of food plant. The linear part of the mine is made by the young larva and is epidermal and is usually running from the median area near the mid vein to the leaf-edge with an irregularly curved trace. The blotchy part is elongaged along the leaf-edge, with parenchymal tissues within this part almost eaten by the larva. Finally, the leaf-edge at the blotchy part is narrowly folded down causing the lower epidermis the to shrink over the mining part. The full-grown larva emerges from the mine to make a cocoon outside. The cocoon is usually placed on the lower side of the leaf, mostly at the side of the mid or lateral vein. It is boat-shaped, whitish, partly stained by grains of frass
Frass
Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...
and covered by five to seven bars of silken threads, without bubbles or globules.