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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
moth - Antispila Antispila freemani Heliozelidae, Shield Bearer Moth, blotch leaf mine on Grape - Antispila St. Andrews leaf miner on Vaccinium SA208 Coptodisca maybe 2015 3 - Coptodisca Antispila - Antispila nysaefoliella St. Andrews leaf miner on Morella cerifera SA1182 2017 2 - Aspilanta argentifera Lake Crabtree leaf miner on Parthenocissus quinquefolia D2970 2021 7 - Aspilanta Weymouth Woods leaf miner Coptodisca on Morella caroliniensis D4586 adult 2023 2 - Coptodisca undescribed-species-on-morella
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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