Stigmella gossypii
Encyclopedia
Stigmella gossypii is a moth
of the Nepticulidae
family. It is found in Puerto Rico
and Florida
.
The wingspan
is 3-3.2 mm. Mines can be found in March and early April, with adults on wings 10 days later. There is probably one generation per year.
The larvae feed on Gossypium barbadense
. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine is slender, sinuous and located on the lower surface (but visible from the upper surface) of the leaf. In the first half of the mine, the frass
is deposited in arcuate waves and is granular while in latter half it is a single, continuous line. There are several mines on a single leaf that cross and anastomose frequently.
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 Nepticulidae
Nepticulidae
Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes . These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, include the smallest of all living moths, with a wingspan that can be as little as 3 mm...
family. It is found in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
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 3-3.2 mm. Mines can be found in March and early April, with adults on wings 10 days later. There is probably one generation per year.
The larvae feed on Gossypium barbadense
Gossypium barbadense
Gossypium barbadense, also known as extra long staple cotton as it generally has a staple of at least 1 3/8" or longer, is a species of cotton plant. Some types of ELS cotton are American Pima, Egyptian Giza, Indian Suvin, Chinese Xiniang, Sudanese Barakat, and Russian Tonkovoloknistyi...
. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine is slender, sinuous and located on the lower surface (but visible from the upper surface) of the leaf. In the first half of the mine, 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 deposited in arcuate waves and is granular while in latter half it is a single, continuous line. There are several mines on a single leaf that cross and anastomose frequently.