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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Moths » Gracillarioidea » Leaf Blotch Miner Moths (Gracillariidae)

Family Gracillariidae - Leaf Blotch Miner Moths

Classification · Numbers · Size · Identification · Season · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Micro Moth - Cameraria hamadryadella moth - Cameraria australisella moth - Phyllonorycter micro moth - Caloptilia micro moth - Phyllonorycter basistrigella Leaf Blotch Miner - Caloptilia Unidentified - Phyllonorycter Moth ZH3Z3396
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Gracillarioidea
Family Gracillariidae (Leaf Blotch Miner Moths)
Numbers
All-Leps lists 296 species in 22 genera in North America.
Insects of Cedar Creek cites "275 North American species".
Size
Wingspan 4-20 mm
Identification
Small to minute moths associated with host plants. Top of head rough- to smooth-scaled. Antennae long. FW usually without an accessory cell, HW has a hump along the costal margin near the base in some species. Unique "tripod" stance with the anterior part of the body elevated and the wing tips touching the surface on which the moth is resting.
Season
Summer, fall
Life Cycle
Larvae produce a "blotch mine" on leaf and the leaf is often folded, then tied on with silk and then they feed. They usually pupate in their mines.
Remarks
Classification according to All-Leps:
Family GRACILLARIIDAE
Subfamily Gracellariinae
Genera Acrocercops, Caloptilia, Marmara, Micrurapteryx, Neurobathra, Parectopa, Parornix
The following thumbnail images represent unidentified specimens in subfamily Gracellariinae.

Subfamily Lithocolletinae
Genera Cameraria, Phyllonorycter, Porphyrosela
Subfamily Phyllocnistinae
Genus Phyllocnistis
Print References
Covell, pp.446-448 (1)
Cranshaw, pp. 214-215 (2)
Borror, p.507 (3)
Internet References
Insects of Cedar Creek
Forestry Images
leaf mine and live adult image (Jeremy Tatum, Butterflies and Moths of Southern Vancouver Island)
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
By Charles V. Covell, Jr.
2.Garden Insects of North America : The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs (Princeton Field Guides)
By Whitney Cranshaw
3.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn
Contributed by Cotinis on 21 September, 2004 - 8:27am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod
Last updated 13 April, 2009 - 6:29am

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