Macarostola japonica
Encyclopedia
Macarostola japonica is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Japan
(Honshū and Satunan).
The wingspan
is 9-10 mm.
The larva
e feed on Euscaphis japonica. There are four or five instars. In the first two instars the larvae are of sap-feeding type with a flat head, and in the third to supposed fifth instars they are tissue-feeders, with a round head and a cylindrical body as in usual lepidopterous larvae. The mine
starts as a tortuous serpentine mine, which is located inside the lower epidermis of a leaf and is whitish in colour. The second instar larva expands the linear mine to an elongated blotch along the leaf-margin. In this stage the mine occupies the lower layer of spongy parenchyma. The larva of the third instar feeds on the whole parenchymal tissues remaining inside the blotch-mine, then makes it into a tentiform type. After the third moult, the larva leaves the mine through a round hole and migrates to another leaf, which it cuts from the edge towards the midrib. This cut edge is rolled to form a cone on the underside of the leaf, then the larva continues to feed inside the cone. When full-grown the larva leaves the cone to pupate. Pupation takes place at a margin of the same leaf or another one. The cocoon is whitish, boat-shaped, without any bubbles on its upper side.
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 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...
(Honshū and Satunan).
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 9-10 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 Euscaphis japonica. There are four or five instars. In the first two instars the larvae are of sap-feeding type with a flat head, and in the third to supposed fifth instars they are tissue-feeders, with a round head and a cylindrical body as in usual lepidopterous larvae. The 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...
starts as a tortuous serpentine mine, which is located inside the lower epidermis of a leaf and is whitish in colour. The second instar larva expands the linear mine to an elongated blotch along the leaf-margin. In this stage the mine occupies the lower layer of spongy parenchyma. The larva of the third instar feeds on the whole parenchymal tissues remaining inside the blotch-mine, then makes it into a tentiform type. After the third moult, the larva leaves the mine through a round hole and migrates to another leaf, which it cuts from the edge towards the midrib. This cut edge is rolled to form a cone on the underside of the leaf, then the larva continues to feed inside the cone. When full-grown the larva leaves the cone to pupate. Pupation takes place at a margin of the same leaf or another one. The cocoon is whitish, boat-shaped, without any bubbles on its upper side.