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Species Porphyrosela minuta - Hodges#0843.1

Uknown Larvae - Porphyrosela minuta Maybe Porphyrosela minuta? - Porphyrosela minuta St. Andrews leaf miner on Trifolium repens SA193 2015 2 - Porphyrosela minuta St. Andrews leaf miner on Trifolium repens Porphyrosela minuta SA282 2016 1 - Porphyrosela minuta Porphyrosela minuta Porphyrosela minuta Porphyrosela minuta? - Porphyrosela minuta Porphyrosela minuta
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Gracillarioidea (Ribbed Cocoon-maker and Leaf Blotch Miner Moths)
Family Gracillariidae (Leaf Blotch Miner Moths)
Subfamily Lithocolletinae
Genus Porphyrosela
Species minuta (Porphyrosela minuta - Hodges#0843.1)
Hodges Number
0843.1
Explanation of Names
Author: Clarke, 1953
Range
Apparently native to South America (known from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay). Recently discovered in North America: California, Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana.
Food
Larvae are leafminers in white clover (Trifolium repens).
Remarks
The only known native Porphyrosela in the US, P. desmodiella, is very similar as an adult. However, it makes underside tentiform mines, not flat upperside mines like those of P. minuta, and Trifolium is not one of its known hosts.
Print References
Bentancourt, Carlos M. and Iris B. Scatoni. 2007. Morphology and biology of Porphyrosela minuta Clarke 1953 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae, Lithocolletinae) in Uruguay. Neotropical Entomology 36(4):514-519. (PDF)
Eiseman, Charles S., Tracy S. Feldman, Eric F. LoPresti, and Michael W. Palmer. 2017. First North American records of Porphyrosela minuta Clarke (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), with notes on its native congener, P. desmodiella (Clemens). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 119(1):18-23.