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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

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Superfamily Nepticuloidea - Pygmy Leafmining Moths

Representative Images

Unknown Moth Dark mine on red maple - Glaucolepis saccharella Convoluted corridor on Prunus mexicana - Stigmella Stigmella Gooseberry Barkminer Moth - Pseudopostega quadristrigella Leaf mines - Stigmella rhamnicola These are getting more common... - Stigmella multispicata Smith Creek leaf miner on Aronia arbutifolia D3748 2022 6 - Stigmella
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 Nepticuloidea (Pygmy Leafmining Moths)

Explanation of Names

From the type genus Nepticula, Latin meaning "granddaughter." (1)

Identification

See Bob Patterson's comment about "eyecaps" on photo 360727.

Remarks

These are tiny moths whose larvae are leaf and stem miners. Specialization on diverse flowering plants has led this group to become the most species-rich of the primitive Lepidoptera (2)

Internet References

Nepticulidae and Opostegidae of the World

Works Cited

1.An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names.
Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.
2.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
Contributed by Jeff Hollenbeck on 26 March, 2007 - 4:19pm
Additional contributions by Vox Sciurorum, John Schneider, Randy Hardy, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 27 May, 2019 - 9:18pm

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