| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) |
Synonyms: Phyllonorycter carpinicolella (Stainton), (?)Phyllonorycter esperella Goeze
Associated with shrubs. On Betulaceae; Carpinus.
Larvae. The larvae mining in leaves; in the upper-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 more or less equal in length; cremastal processes relatively short and basally broad (the outer pair stouter).
Adults. Face white. Head white and fuscous. Thorax light golden ochreous, or brown; with a conspicuous median pale streak. Wing-span 7–9 mm. Forewings light golden ochreous; not clear shining white; with a well defined basal streak (this straight, narrow, pointed, reaching almost to the middle). The basal streak pale; dark-edged above to not dark-edged above. Forewings with well defined pale strigulae (these shining white). Costal strigulae 4. The first costal strigula extended basipetally along the costa. 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. Forewing apical marking comprising an elongate blackish apical spot. The forewing fringe narrowly dark-lined along the bases of the cilia and narrowly dark-lined along the tips of the apical cilia. The forewing basal fringe line complete. Hindwing cilia white to fuscous (whitish fuscous). Posterior tarsi with dark spots.
The left and right male genital valvae similar in size and form (narrowly ovate-elongate). The left male genital valva not spine-tipped; without marginal spines. The left and right male genital valvae interpretable as having free costae. The left and right free costae completely detached from the valvae; similar (broadly based, including the spine-tips about half as long as their valvae). The aedeagus long and relatively slender with a triangular barb towards the apex. The female genitalia exhibiting a signum on the bursa copulatrix (double pointed with a short ridge below).
Adults abroad May and August.
Illustrations. • Phyllonorycter quinnata (as P. carpinocolella): Jacobs (1945). • Phyllonorycter quinnata, and mine in Carpinus: Ian Kimber (2018), UKmoths https://ukmoths.org.uk/. • Species on Hornbeam in Britain. 1, Phyllonorycter messaniella (more often of oak, beech or sweet chestnut); 2, P. tenerella; 3, P. quinnata. • P. corylifoliella, P. coryli and P. quinnata (as carpinicolella): Stainton (1855) Plate II, under Lithocolletis. PHYLLONORYCTER. 1, P. corylifoliella: imago (1m), larva (1a) and two mined hawthorn leaves (1b). 2, L. coryli: imago (2m), larva (2a) and mined hazel leaf (2b). 3, P. quinnata: imago (3m), larva (3b) and mined hornbeam leaf (3b). • Stainton (1855), Plate II: original legend.. • Phyllonorycter quinnata (as carpinocolella), 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’.
