Poison ivy leaf miner - Cameraria guttifinitella

Moved

Moved from Moths.

… Charley Eiseman, 15 April, 2008 - 8:27pm

Gracillariid on poison ivy

This is Cameraria guttifinitella, as was determined previously. A convenient trick for determining whether you're looking at a Cameraria or at one of the "Cameraria-like" Phyllonorycter species (mainly mariaeella, symphoricarpaeella, and tritaenianella) is that, in the Phyllonorycter spp., the the narrow black border occurs on the basal (inside) edge of each of the transverse white fasciae on the forewing, whereas in Cameraria spp. the black border occurs on the apical (outside) edge of each fascia (as seen in the photo here).

The larval foodplant for Phyllonorycter tritaenianella, by the way, is hop hornbeam, Ostrya virginiana (Betulaceae); tritaenianella is one of three Phyllonorycter spp. that utilize that plant as the larval host in the eastern USA. Biological info and photos of these and other Phyllonorycter spp. can be perused at http://www.microleps.org/Guide/Gracillariidae/Lithocolletinae/Phyllonorycter/index.html

… Terry Harrison, 15 April, 2008 - 2:08pm

Thanks

for the information and for the link--that website is a great resource. Is it yours? I didn't see any contact info there. I'm working on a book on signs of invertebrates, and I need all the help I can get with leaf miners.

… Charley Eiseman, 18 April, 2008 - 1:46pm

Lithocolletinae?

Phyllonorycter sp. or Cameraria sp. perhaps. Check out MPG around Hodges 0800.

… Steve Nanz, 26 March, 2008 - 5:17am

Cameraria guttifinitella

Well done! I have it from Lutz (1935) that "Lithocolletis guttifinitella" mines the upper side of poison ivy leaves, so the ID is almost certain... It would be nice to know the food plant of Phyllonorycter tritaenianella, since there's a strong resemblance there too.

… Charley Eiseman, 26 March, 2008 - 8:22am