| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) |
Synonym: Phyllonorycter amyotella (Duponchel)
Associated with trees. On Fagaceae; native (deciduous) Quercus.
Larvae. The larvae mining in leaves; in the under-side. Found in July, or September to October. The larva pupating in a morphologically distinct cocoon.
Pupa. The pupal cremaster with two pairs of hooked processes; two pairs of cremastal processes very unequal in length (the inner pair shorter).
Adults. Face white. Head dark golden brown. Thorax shining golden brown. Wing-span 7–9 mm. Forewings golden golden ochreous; not clear shining white; without a basal streak; with well defined pale strigulae (these clear white, the first costal being opposite the second dorsal, and the third costal fairly inconspicuous). Costal strigulae 2, or 3. Dorsal strigulae 3. Forewings with the first costal strigula approaching a dorsal one at an acute angle; without transverse pale fasciae. Forewings with conspicuous dark apical marking to without conspicuous dark apical marks. Forewing apical marking if detectable, obscurely comprising an elongate blackish apical spot to comprising a dark apical strigula. The forewing fringe traversed towards the apex by a narrow, curved dark line (emanating costally of the apical spot); narrowly dark-lined along the bases of the cilia. The forewing basal fringe line complete. Hindwing cilia whitish fuscous (with a golden sheen).
The left and right male genital valvae similar in size and form (broadly elongate-lanceolate, narrowly round-tipped). The left male genital valva not spine-tipped (perhaps with a small surface spine near the apex); (this and the right one) with a single costal-marginal spine towards the apex (each with a short curved spine, depicted from the upper surface, towards the apex). The left and right male genital valvae having free costae. The left and right free costae arising near the bases of the valvae; similar (their long bases and straight spine-tips almost as long as the valvae). The aedeagus long and relatively slender with a triangular barb towards the apex. The female genitalia exhibiting a signum on the bursa copulatrix (with a point at each end).
Adults abroad May and August.
Illustrations. • Phyllonorycter muelleriella (as P. amyotella): Jacobs (1945). • 9 species on deciduous oak. 1, Phyllonorycter (Lithocolletis) roboris; 2, P. harrisella; 3, P. heegeriella; 4, P. messaniella; 5, P. quercifoliella; 6, P. distentella; 7, P. lautella; 8, P. muelleriella; 9, P. kuhlweiniella. • Phyllonorycter muelleriella (as L. amyotella), genitalia: Pierce and Metcalfe (1935).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
