Phyllonorycter lucetiella
Encyclopedia
Phyllonorycter lucetiella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Québec
and the United States
(including Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts).
The wingspan
is 6-7 mm.
The larva
e feed on Ostrya virginiana
and Tilia
species (including Tilia americana
, Tilia x vulgaris and Tilia × europaea). They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a tentiform mine on underside of leaf, but it is conspicuously visible on the upperside of the leaf, due to removal of green parenchyma tissue from the upper wall. The mine is rectangular, often nearly square, and placed between two veins and unwrinkled. When complete, the mine is transparent, and the pupa, which is contained in an oval cocoon, is plainly visible.
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 Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts).
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 6-7 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 Ostrya virginiana
Ostrya virginiana
Ostrya virginiana , is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas and northeastern Mexico...
and Tilia
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
species (including Tilia americana
Tilia americana
Tilia americana is a species of Tilia native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Texas, and southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to Cherry County, Nebraska...
, Tilia x vulgaris and Tilia × europaea). 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 tentiform mine on underside of leaf, but it is conspicuously visible on the upperside of the leaf, due to removal of green parenchyma tissue from the upper wall. The mine is rectangular, often nearly square, and placed between two veins and unwrinkled. When complete, the mine is transparent, and the pupa, which is contained in an oval cocoon, is plainly visible.