Phyllonorycter lucidicostella
Encyclopedia
The Lesser Maple Leaf Blotch Miner (Phyllonorycter lucidicostella) is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Canada
(Ontario and Québec) and the United States
(including Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, New York, Vermont and North Carolina).
The wingspan
is about 6.5 mm.
The larva
e feed on Acer species, including Acer floridanum
and Acer saccharinum. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a tentiform mine on the underside the leaf. The frass
is collected into a ball within the mine. The pupa is suspended in a web of silk within the mine.
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 Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Ontario and Québec) and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, New York, Vermont and North Carolina).
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 about 6.5 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 Acer species, including Acer floridanum
Acer floridanum
Acer floridanum , commonly known as the Florida maple and occasionally as the southern sugar maple or hammock maple, is a tree that occurs in mesic and usually calcareous woodlands of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain in the United States, from southeastern...
and Acer saccharinum. 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 the underside the leaf. The 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...
is collected into a ball within the mine. The pupa is suspended in a web of silk within the mine.