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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Fairy Moths and kin (Adeloidea) » Shield Bearer Moths (Heliozelidae)

Family Heliozelidae - Shield Bearer Moths

Classification · Numbers · Size · Identification · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References · Works Cited
Coptodisca ex Morella cerifera - Coptodisca undescribed-species-on-morella St. Andrews leaf miner on Parthenocissus quinquefolia Antispilla SA61 2015 1 - Aspilanta Shield Bearer Moth - Antispila freemani Ding Darling Refuge leaf miner on Conocarpus erectus D1325 2018 2 - Coptodisca undescribed-species-on-conocarpus-erectus Ding Darling Refuge leaf miner on Conocarpus erectus D1327 2018 1 - Coptodisca undescribed-species-on-conocarpus-erectus Moth - Heliozela aesella Laurinburg leaf miner on Vaccinium arboreum D2512 2020 5 - Coptodisca Tupelo Leafminer - Antispila nysaefoliella
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 Adeloidea (Fairy Moths and kin)
Family Heliozelidae (Shield Bearer Moths)
Numbers
30 species in 3 genera in North America listed in Pohl, et al. 2016 provisional checklist(1)
Size
Less than 3 mm. (2)
Identification
Adult - typically have iridescent, metallic-appearing scaling. Eyes are small as in other diurnal microlepidoptera. (2)
Larva - flattened, usually legless. (2)
Food
Species are host specific, using at least 17 families of angiosperms. (2)
Life Cycle
Last instar larvae construct a portable case by cutting disks from the upper and lower epidermis and joining them with silk, the reason for the commom name "shield bearers." The abandoned mines, with their distinctive "shot holes" are characteristic. (2)
Internet References
http://microleps.org/Guide/Heliozelidae/index.html
Works Cited
1.Annotated taxonomic checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America, North of Mexico
Pohl, G.R., Patterson, B., & Pelham, J.P. 2016. ResearchGate.net.
2.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 23 June, 2008 - 12:56am
Additional contributions by Randy Hardy, Blocky
Last updated 25 September, 2018 - 7:25pm

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