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Porphyrosela
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Porphyrosela minuta - Hodges#0843.1 (Porphyrosela minuta)
Photo#705658
Copyright © 2012
Greg Dodge
Uknown Larvae/Unknown Moth -
Porphyrosela minuta
Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, USA
September 19, 2012
Size: about 2 mm
Eleven days from day of first discovery three tiny moths appeared in the plastic vial the larvae had been kept in.
Images of this individual:
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Contributed by
Greg Dodge
on 19 September, 2012 - 12:33pm
Last updated 28 November, 2014 - 9:36am
Moved
Moved from
Porphyrosela
.
…
Charley Eiseman
, 28 November, 2014 - 9:37am
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Moved
Moved from
Leaf Blotch Miner Moths
.
…
Charley Eiseman
, 19 November, 2012 - 8:42am
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Moved
Moved from
Unidentified Leaf Mines
.
…
Charley Eiseman
, 23 September, 2012 - 1:51am
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unknown larvae
The adult moth seems to be
Porphyrosela desmodiella
.
The question is, why is the mine, or tent, that I photo'd different from what is described for this species here on BugGuide, that is, on the upper surface of the leaf not the underside?
Although I found several spent pupal cases attached to the vial in which the moths were raised, I did locate one within one of the curled up leaflets.
Interestingly, I found the following site with a photo of a tent which looks remarkably like the one that I photo'd but which belongs to
Porphyrosela minuta
(http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2007000400005) from southern South America.
Anybody?
…
Greg Dodge
, 24 September, 2012 - 9:03am
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Heads up:
I too crossed paths with mines like these. See my post here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/726189/bgimage
…
Thomas Wilson of Armistead Gardens in Baltimore City
, 27 November, 2012 - 4:29am
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Looks like a match
Sure looks the same to me.
I had planned on shipping off a specimen of an adult to Don Davis for identification but the only specimen that I had was a smashed individual that was later eaten by a roach (my fault completely, I left it sitting around too long in a vial with the lid partially open). I tried to rear more but was unsuccessful. Maybe next season.
…
Greg Dodge
, 27 November, 2012 - 9:46am
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Don Davis
Would it be possible for you to send the adult moths to Don Davis (contact info
here
)? I emailed him about this, and he very much would like to see your adults, to compare them with
P. desmodiella
and with the type series of
P. minuta
. That is without question our best bet for obtaining a definitive ID for your moths. If you want to send them to him, they do not need to be pinned. Simply put each moth into the bottom of a vial (best to have only one moth per vial), then put a snugly-fitting piece of cotton almost to the bottom of the vial, so that the cotton just barely touches the moth, the idea being to minimize the degree to which the moth will be jostled around during shipping. That should do it.
Also, Don would like to know, from exactly which species of clover (i. e., scientific name) did you rear these moths? It would be very helpful if this could be determined.
Thanks very much for bringing this to everyone's attention!
…
Terry Harrison
, 26 September, 2012 - 11:12am
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The host plant
is White Clover (
Trifolium repens
).
As far as the moths are concerned, they all flew off except one which was unfortunately, and unintentionally, spread across the inside of one of the vials.
I may try to rear more.
…
Greg Dodge
, 27 September, 2012 - 12:50pm
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Remains
Good luck with rearing more of these moths. If you still have the remains of the one moth that was inadvertently killed, it might very well yield a perfectly good genitalia preparation, which is what Don needs for the ID. So if you still have it, please hold onto it until you determine whether or not you'll be able to rear more. One way or the other, I believe that Don would like to see it.
Thanks for the host plant identity.
…
Terry Harrison
, 27 September, 2012 - 3:10pm
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i agree
these are awesome pictures..thanks so much!
…
Edna Woodward
, 19 September, 2012 - 8:24pm
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Leaf Blotch Miner Moth…
Resembles Porphyrosela desmodiella. It does appear that Desmodium is the plant genus, which encourages the species ID.
See reference
here.
…
Ross Hill
, 19 September, 2012 - 12:58pm
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Great series of photos.
Great series of photos.
…
Ilona L.
, 19 September, 2012 - 12:53pm
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