Explanation of Names
From the type genus
Tischeria, in honor of German entomologist Carl von Tischer (born 1777).
(1)Life Cycle
As the larvae grow, their mines lengthen and expand laterally, flaring out into a trumpet shape.
(2)Remarks
Thanks go to Terry Harrison for this info:
The major monograph of Tischeriidae for North America is Braun, A. F. 1972. Tischeriidae of America north of Mexico (microlepidoptera). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 28: 1-148. In that work (and also in the 1983 checklist of North American Lepidoptera), all species were placed in a single genus, Tischeria. More recently, the Nearctic species were assigned into three different genera, by Puplesis, R., and A. Diškus. 2003. The Nepticuloidea and Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera) – A Global Review, with Strategic Regional Revisions. Kaunas: Lutute Publishers, 512pp.
For eastern-Nearctic Tischeriidae, as of Puplesis and Diškus 2003, only one species remains in Tischeria, that being the oak-feeding T. quercitella. All other oak feeders are assigned to Coptotriche, as are all of the Rosaceae feeders, whereas all Asteraceae feeders are placed in Astrotischeria.
An updated list of the entire Nearctic tischeriid fauna, as well as annotated, catalog-like lists of New World Coptotriche and Tischeria species, can be found here. [Update: 3/4/19, link is broken.]