Phyllonorycter fitchella
Encyclopedia
Phyllonorycter fitchella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Québec
and the United States
(including Connecticut, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, New York, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Vermont, Colorado and Missouri).
The wingspan
is 7.5-8 mm. Adults are on wing from March to October in California.
The larva
e feed on Quercus species, including Quercus alba, Quercus bicolor, Quercus castanea, Quercus ilicifolia, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus prinoides
, Quercus prinus and Quercus stellata. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The larva mines the underside of oak leaves, forming a tentiform mine, of which the loosened epidermis is slightly wrinkled at maturity. The pupa is suspended in a slight web of silk.
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 Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Connecticut, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, New York, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Vermont, Colorado and Missouri).
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 7.5-8 mm. Adults are on wing from March to October in California.
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 Quercus species, including Quercus alba, Quercus bicolor, Quercus castanea, Quercus ilicifolia, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus prinoides
Quercus prinoides
Quercus prinoides, commonly known as Dwarf Chinkapin Oak, Dwarf Chinquapin Oak, Dwarf Chestnut Oak or Scrub Chestnut Oak, is a shrubby, clone-forming oak native to eastern North America, ranging from Massachusetts to the Carolinian forest zone of southern Ontario to Minnesota, south to North...
, Quercus prinus and Quercus stellata. 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 larva mines the underside of oak leaves, forming a tentiform mine, of which the loosened epidermis is slightly wrinkled at maturity. The pupa is suspended in a slight web of silk.