Species Bedellia somnulentella - Morning-Glory Leaf Miner - Hodges#0466

0466

Sweet Potato Leaf Miner

8-10mm WS

Adult: pale grayish-brown moth, the FW is uniformly speckled with dark-brown scales, except on the dorsal margin from base to tornus, which is whitish. The moth sits with the front end of the body elevated, similar to Tischeriidae, but usually with the front and hind legs tucked out of sight and the middle legs visible but not projected to either side. On the head, there is a prominent tuft of erect scales. a

Larva: Greenish with a dark red spot on either side of each segment; it presents a sigmoid ("S"-shaped) configuration, in contrast to most other leaf-mining microlepidoptera larvae, which either appear straight or describe a single, gentle curve from anterior to posterior end. a

Larva feed on species of bindweed and morning glory families. Larva makes a full-depth blotch mine, usually, several larvae feed per leaf. The appearance of a typically-infested leaf, with numerous feeding "windows" and a small accumulation of stringy black frass just outside each mine, is distinctive. a

The larva leaves the mine to pupate, with the pupa being suspended in a slight silken hammock. The pupal exuvium is protruded from the cocoon upon eclosion. Adult emergence occurs straightaway, in early September; this suggests that the moth overwinters in the adult stage. a

Life cycle images:

Morning Glory leaf damage; larvae in webbing; larva; adult

Considered invasive in this country (from Asia). (Capinera, John L. North American Vegetable Pests. The Pattern of Invasion. American Entomologist. Spring 2002)