Bedellia silvicolella
Encyclopedia
Bedellia silvicolella is a moth
in the Bedelliidae
family. It is endemic to the Canary Islands
.
The larvae feed on Convolvulus canariensis and Convolvulus floridus. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a slender corridor with a thick, central frass
line that sometimes occupies the entire width of the leaf. Later, larvae create larger, brownish, full-depth fleck mines, often in different leaves.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
in the Bedelliidae
Bedelliidae
Bedelliidae is a small family of small, narrow-winged moths; most authorities recognize just a single genus, Bedellia, previously included in the family Lyonetiidae. The family is still included in the Lyonetiidae as the subfamily Bedelliinae by some authors.-Species:-External links:* U.S.A. *...
family. It is endemic to the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
The larvae feed on Convolvulus canariensis and Convolvulus floridus. They mine
Leaf miner
Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a slender corridor with a thick, central frass
Frass
Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...
line that sometimes occupies the entire width of the leaf. Later, larvae create larger, brownish, full-depth fleck mines, often in different leaves.