| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genus Phyllonorycter (Lepidoptera-Gracillariidae) |
Synonyms: Phyllonorycter deflexella (Stainton), Phyllonorycter pomonella auct.
Associated with trees and shrubs. On Rosaceae; Prunus (certainly P. spinosa, P. domestica, and perhaps other species and hybrids as well?).
Larvae. The larvae mining in leaves; in the under-side. Found in July, or September to October.
Pupa. The pupal cremaster with two pairs of hooked processes; two pairs of cremastal processes more or less equal in length to very unequal in length (the outer pair stouter); cremastal processes relatively short and basally broad.
Adults. Face white. Head ochreous and fuscous. Thorax bright saffron yellow to orange; finely edged whate, and with a conspicuous median pale streak. Wing-span 7–8 mm. Forewings golden ochreous; not clear shining white; with a well defined basal streak (this bent slightly downwards, narrow, traversing about a third of the wing). The basal streak pale; straight, neither markedly long and slender nor sinuate (slightly down-curved); dark-edged above. Forewings with well defined pale strigulae (four costal, three to four dorsal). Costal strigulae 4. Dorsal strigulae 3–4 (two discrete, the pair inside the fringe line somewhat confluent). Forewings with the first costal strigula approaching a dorsal one at an acute angle; with one transverse pale fascia (sometimes, via the first costal and first dorsal strigulae), or without transverse pale fasciae. Forewings with conspicuous dark apical marking. Forewing apical marking comprising an elongate blackish apical spot to comprising a dark apical strigula. The forewing fringe narrowly dark-lined along the bases of the cilia. The forewing basal fringe line complete, or interrupted (by the last two dorsal strigulae). Hindwing cilia whitish to light brown. Posterior tarsi whitish, without dark spots.
The left and right male genital valvae similar in size and form (narrowly elongate-ovate, each with a short spine costal-marginally short of the apex). The left male genital valva not spine-tipped; (this and the right one) with a single costal-marginal spine towards the apex. The left and right male genital valvae having free costae. The left and right free costae completely detached from the valvae (completely so!); similar (about as long as their valvae, each with a very long, terminally curved spine from the apex of its very short base). The aedeagus long and relatively slender with a triangular barb towards the apex. The female genitalia exhibiting a signum on the bursa copulatrix (small, pointed at either end).
Adults abroad May and August.
Illustrations. • Phyllonorycter spinicicolella: Jacobs (1945). • Phyllonorycter spinicolella and food-plant. Phyllonorycter spinicolella, with Prunus spinosa (Sloe, Blackthorn). The plant from Curtis. • Phyllonorycter spinicolella: Ian Kimber (2018), UKmoths https://ukmoths.org.uk/. • Phyllonorycter spinicolella, mine in Prunus spinosa: Ian Kimber (2018), UKmoths https://ukmoths.org.uk/. • P. mespilella (as torminella), P. spinicolella and P. maestingella (as faginella): Stainton (1855) Plate III. PHYLLONORYCTER. 1, P. mespilella: imago (1m), larva (1a), and mined leaf of Sorbus torminalis (1b). 2, P. spinicolella: imago (2m), larva (2a), and mined sloe leaf (2b). 3, P. maestingella: imago (3m), larva (3a), and mined beech leaf (3b). • Stainton (1855), Plate III: original legend. • Phyllonorycter spinicicolella, 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’.
