| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) |
Associated with herbs. On Dipsacaceae; Scabiosa columbaria (said to prefer lower leaves and seedlings).
Larvae. The larvae mining in leaves; in the under-side. Found in August, or October to December, or January to April (hibernating). The larva pupating in a morphologically distinct cocoon.
Pupa. The pupal cremaster with one pair of hooked processes; cremastal processes relatively short and basally broad.
Adults. Antennae white to the base (grey-ringed). Face shining grey. Head orange. Thorax cinnamon brown, or orange. Wing-span 6–8 mm. Forewings shining golden ochreous, or golden brown; not clear shining white; with a well defined basal streak (this straight, short and traversing less than a quarter of the wing). The basal streak pale; dark-edged above. Forewings with well defined pale strigulae (white, paired). Costal strigulae 4. Dorsal strigulae 3. Forewings with the first costal strigula not forming an acute angle with a dorsal one; with two transverse pale fasciae (via coalescence of the first pair of strigulae, at least the outer one somewhat bent in the region of their joining). Forewings with conspicuous dark apical marking. Forewing apical marking comprising a round blackish apical spot. Hindwing cilia brownish fuscous. The left and right male genital valvae with entire bodies.
The left and right male genital valvae similar in size and form (broadly linear to very narrowly oblong, each with a short spine at the apex). The left male genital valva retrorsely tipped by a hooked spine to tipped by a straight spine. The left and right male genital valvae without free costae. The aedeagus short and relatively stumpy, not barbed. The female genitalia exhibiting a signum on the bursa copulatrix (double pointed).
Adults abroad in May, August to September.
Illustrations. • Phyllonorycter scabiosella: Jacobs (1945). • P. scabiosella on Scabiosa columbaria. Phyllonorycter scabiosella, with its food-plant, Scabiosa columbaria. • P. trifasciella, P. scabiosella and P. emberizaepenella: Stainton (1855) Plate VIII. PHYLLONORYCTER. 1, P. trifasciella: imago (1m), larva (1a), and mined honeysuckle leaf (1b). 2, P. scabiosella: imago (2m), larva (2a), and mined Scabiosa columbaria leaf (2b). 3, P. emberizaepennella: imago (3m), larva (3a) and mined honeysuckle leaf (3b). • Stainton (1855), Plate VIII: original legend.. • Phyllonorycter scabiosella, 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’.
