Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Eriocraniella mediabulla - Hodges#0013.1

Eriocraniid Moth - Hodges #0013.3 - Eriocraniella mediabulla Eriocraniid Moth - Hodges #0013.3 - Eriocraniella mediabulla Eriocraniid Moth - Hodges #0013.3 - Eriocraniella mediabulla St. Andrews Leaf miner on Quercus laevis SA322 2016 2 - Eriocraniella mediabulla St. Andrews Leaf miner on Quercus laevis SA322 2016 3 - Eriocraniella mediabulla Eriocraniella platyptera - Eriocraniella mediabulla - female St. Andrews leaf miner on Quercus falcata SA1973 2021 7 - Eriocraniella mediabulla Lake Crabtree leaf miner on Quercus falcata D2782 2021 1.1 - Eriocraniella mediabulla
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 Eriocranioidea (Eriocraniid Moths)
Family Eriocraniidae (Eriocraniid Moths)
Genus Eriocraniella
Species mediabulla (Eriocraniella mediabulla - Hodges#0013.1)
Hodges Number
0013.1
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Eriocraniella mediabulla Davis & Faeth, 1986
Phylogenetic sequence: #000350
Explanation of Names
The specific name is derived from Latin media (middle) and bulla (knob) and refers to the diagnostic midventral, knoblike process on the vinculum of the male. (1)
Size
Adult: FWL (male) = 3.8-4.1 mm; (female) 3.3-3.7 mm (1)
Larva: Length of largest larva 9 mm; diameter 1.5 mm (1)
Identification
Adult: Antennae approximately 0.5 the length of FW (29-34 segmented) ● Pronotum shiny black to dark fuscous. Venter sparsely covered with buff to grayish white scales ● FW uniformly black with a distinct golden to sometimes bluish luster ● HW slightly paler, fuscous with a distinct purplish luster along costal half. (2)

Larva: Head uniformly light brown to stramineous, with frontal sutures darkly outlined. See cited reference for detailed description and images. (2)
Range
Found in northern Georgia, northern Florida, southern Louisiana and north-eastern Texas. (2)
Season
Adults are on wing from early March to mid April, univoltine. (1)
Food
Larvae known to feed on Water Oak (Quercus nigra) and Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata). May possibly feed on other oaks, as Quercus alba, Quercus hemisphaerica and Quercus virginiana. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a serpentine mine in the upper epidermis of the leaf, proceeding along the leaf edge to the apical portion of the leaf where a full-depth, blotch-shaped mine is produced. Full-grown larvae cut a hole in the lower leaf surface and drop to the soil surface. There, they burrow into the soil and spin a cocoon. (1)
Life Cycle
Eggs have been found inserted near the edge of leaves of Quercus nigra, usually beyond the distal half, and only in leaves of newly emerging buds, approximately in mid-March. Eggs hatch in 7-10 days. (1)
See Also
Eriocraniella platyptera - a more northern species
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group – distribution and flight period chart (3)
BOLD Systems - images of DNA supported specimens (4)
Wikipedia - brief description (2)
Works Cited
1.A New Oak-Mining Eriocraniid Moth from Southeastern United States 
Davis, Donald R. and Faeth, Stanley H. 1986. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 88:145-153 .
2.Wikipedia
3.North American Moth Photographers Group
4.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems