Callisto insperatella
Encyclopedia
Callisto insperatella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is found from Fennoscandia
to Switzerland
, Austria
and Ukraine
.
The larva
e feed on Prunus cerasus and Prunus padus. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as an epidermal gallery with a central frass
line. The gallery widens into a blotch and the larva starts consuming the parenchyma. In the end, the mine has the form of a lower-surface tentiform mine. It is strongly contracted, but without folds. The larva vacates the mine by an opening in the lower epidermis and lives freely in a leaf margin that has been folded downwards. Within this fold, the larva starts feeding in the apical section, working downwards. The frass is deposited in the oldest part of the fold. During feeding pauses, the larva rests still untouched central part of the fold. After the first fold has been eaten out, a second one is made.
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...
of the Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella....
family. It is found from Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia
Fennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland...
to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e feed on Prunus cerasus and Prunus padus. 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 an epidermal gallery with a 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. The gallery widens into a blotch and the larva starts consuming the parenchyma. In the end, the mine has the form of a lower-surface tentiform mine. It is strongly contracted, but without folds. The larva vacates the mine by an opening in the lower epidermis and lives freely in a leaf margin that has been folded downwards. Within this fold, the larva starts feeding in the apical section, working downwards. The frass is deposited in the oldest part of the fold. During feeding pauses, the larva rests still untouched central part of the fold. After the first fold has been eaten out, a second one is made.