Family Bucculatricidae - Ribbed Cocoon-maker Moths

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Bucculatrix mines common this year - Bucculatrix

St. Andrews leaf miner on Quercus virginiana SA1930A Bucculatrix cocoon 2021 1 - Bucculatrix

St. Andrews leaf miner maybe on Quercus laurifolia SA1945 cocoon 2021 9 - Bucculatrix

Bucculatrix polymniae Hodges #0526 - Bucculatrix

Another undescribed Setomorpha? - Bucculatrix

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 Bucculatricidae (Ribbed Cocoon-maker Moths)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

* formerly part of family Lyonetiidae

* treated as a separate family by Davis and Robinson in Kristensen (1999)

Explanation of Names

From the type genus Bucculatrix, Latin meaning "a little mouth, or cheek." (1), (2)

Numbers

Over 100 species in 1 genus (Bucculatrix) in North America.

Identification

Tiny moths that have the top of head covered with rough, bristly scales.

Food

Larvae are leaf skeletonizers.

Larvae start out as leaf miners but when they outgrow the confines of their narrow mine, they become leaf skeletonizers.(3)

Each species is a specialist on a particular tree.(3)

Life Cycle

The cocoons are oblong with long parallel ridges.(3)

Remarks

To evade capture, the larva drop and dangle from firm silk threads.(3)

Internet References

classification of genus Bucculatrix in family Bucculatricidae by Davis and Robinson (Brian Pitkin, Butterflies and Moths of the World)

common name reference and other info (wikipedia.org)

Works Cited

1.	An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names. Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.

2.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.

3.	Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.

Contributed by A.W. Thomas on 18 March, 2005 - 6:29am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, anitagould, Randy Hardy, Marci Hess
Last updated 23 September, 2023 - 10:28am

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