| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) |
Synonym: Phyllonorycter joannisi (Le Marchand)
Associated with trees. On Aceraceae; Acer platanoides.
Larvae. The larvae mining in leaves; in the under-side (sometimes several per leaf, fairly large and rounded, between two veins but not always touching both and sometimes situated at the leaf edge; the lower epidermis ultimately whitish, smooth or with several small creases).
Pupa. The pupal cremaster not described.
Adults. Antennae white to the base (narrowly banded fuscous). Head white and brown. Thorax shining white. Wing-span 6.5–9 mm. Forewings white; clear shining white with coloured markings; exhibiting conspicuous transverse dark (black-edged, ochreous) fasciae (two); lacking the oblique golden brown fascia from the base of the costa exhibited by P. roboris; without a basal streak; lacking well defined pale strigulae. The first costal strigula not basipetally extended along the costa. The fasciae and strigulae inwardly sharply dark-edged. Forewings with two transverse, dark, angled fasciae. The last fascia sharply angulated. Forewings with conspicuous dark apical marking. Forewing apical marking comprising a dark apical strigula (set in an area of orange-brown scales). The forewing fringe narrowly dark-lined along the bases of the cilia. The forewing basal fringe line complete. Hindwing cilia greyish white. Posterior tarsi white, with a fuscous band on segment 1.
The left and right male genital valvae very dissimilar (the left broadly obovoid and spined, the right more or less linear and spineless). The left male genital valva retrorsely tipped by a hooked spine.
Adults abroad May and August.
General comments. Adventive, native to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula. Now commonest in south-east England, found as far north as Yorkshire. Genitalia: Gustafsson (2007): http://www2.nrm.se/en/svenska_fjarilar/svenska_fjarilar.html#DV.
Illustrations. • Phyllonorycter platanoidella: Ian Kimber (2018), UKmoths https://ukmoths.org.uk/. • Phyllonorycter platanoidella: Agassiz (1980), Proc. Brit. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 13–15.
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’.
