Bucculatrix nigricomella

Bucculatrix nigricomella is a species of moth of the family Bucculatricidae. It was first described in 1839 by Philipp Christoph Zeller. It is found in most of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula).[1]

Bucculatrix nigricomella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Bucculatricidae
Genus: Bucculatrix
Species:
B. nigricomella
Binomial name
Bucculatrix nigricomella
(Zeller, 1839)
Synonyms
  • Lyonetia nigricomella Zeller, 1839
  • Bucculatrix albipedella Hofmann, 1874

The wingspan is 7–8 mm. The head is dark fuscous. Antennal eyecaps whitish, forewings shining greyish-bronzy, pairs of costal and dorsal undefined ochreous whitish spots before middle and at 2/3. Hindwings are rather dark grey. The larva is greenish or yellowish; head pale brown; segment 2. On the Continent ([Europe]) the usual form of the imago is almost unicolorous, the spots being nearly or quite obsolete, but this form does not seem to have occurred in England.[2]

Adults are on wing from April to May and again in August. There are two generations per year.[3]

The larvae feed on Leucanthemum vulgare.[4] They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long, hair thin, winding corridor. Usually the corridor is mostly on the upper-surface. The frass is initially deposited in a narrow continuous central line. Further on, the frass line is often interrupted. Older larvae live free and cause window feeding, usually at the leaf underside.

References
  1. Akulov, E. N., Ponomarenko, M. G., & Kirichenko, N. I. (2019). Exploring fauna of Microlepidoptera in South Siberia: novel regional records and interception of quarantine species. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 12(4), 597-612.
  2. Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Keys and description
  3. Homan, R. (2011). Bucculatrix nigricomella (Zell.)(Lep.: Bucculatricidae) feeding in February. Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation, 123(2), 60.
  4. TRIBERTI, P., & BRAGGIO, S. (2011). Remarks on some families of leaf-mining Microlepidoptera from central-southern Sardinia, with some ecological considerations (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae, Bucculatricidae, Gracillariidae). Biodiversity of Marganai and Montimannu (Sardinia). Research in the framework of the ICP forests network., 767-781.


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