Stigmella slingerlandella

Plum Leaf Miner (Stigmella slingerlandella) is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It is found in North America from Ontario, New York, Michigan and Ohio, possibly south to Florida. It was named in honour of Mark Vernon Slingerland.[1]

Stigmella slingerlandella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nepticulidae
Genus: Stigmella
Species:
S. slingerlandella
Binomial name
Stigmella slingerlandella
(Kearfott, 1908)
Synonyms
  • Nepticula slingerlandella Kearfott, 1908

The wingspan is 3.5–5 mm.

The larvae feed on Prunus species, including Prunus nigra and Prunus serotina species. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The larva first eats a narrow linear mine, then widens the mine so as to produce an irregular, more or less ovate blotch. Three to twelve mines are often found on a single leaf. When full grown the larva leaves the mine through a cut in the upper surface of the leaf, falls to the ground, and there constructs a small flattened brownish cocoon in cracks in the soil, under loose stones, or between the base of the tree and the surrounding soil.

References

  1. Kearfott, William Dunham (1902). Miscellaneous contributions, micro-lepidoptera, 1902-10. [s.l.: s.n.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.