Species Dyseriocrania auricyanea - Hodges#0004

0004

Dyseriocrania auricyanea (Walsingham, 1882)

Micropteryx auricyanea Walsingham, 1882 (1)

Phylogenetic sequence #070002

Specific epithet from Latin auri (shine like gold) and Cyane, a mythological nymph, whose name means "dark blue."

Forewing length 4.5-7.0 mm. (2)

Mature larva to 8.5 mm. (3)

Adult - mottled golden, distinctly marked by shining purplish, most conspicuously by three regular, transverse bands slanted outward from the dorsal margin. (2)

Larva - head dark brown, abdomen appearing whitish except for a minute pair of longitudinal, brownish spots. (3)

Northern coast of California and northern Sierra Nevada to southern California and Santa Cruz Island. (2)

February to May. (2)

Larvae are leaf miners of oaks (2)

Oviposition usually on the tip of the leaf. Eggs hatch in a week or two. Larva goes quickly goes through at least four instars. First instar mine begins as a linear or slightly curved passage to the leaf margin. Later the mine is enlarged to a full length blotch. At maturity, the larva leaves the mine through a slit in the upper leaf and burrows into the litter, forming a silken cocoon covered with darker soil particles. The larva diapauses and then pupates in winter. Adults emerge in the late winter or early spring. Moths most active in the hours just before sunset. (3)

Diurnal or crepuscular. (2)

Walsingham, T. de Grey, 1882. Notes on Tineidae of North America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 10: 204 (1)

Moth Photographers Group