Cremastobombycia lantanella
Encyclopedia
The Lantana Leaf Miner (Cremastobombycia lantanella) is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is native to the southern United States
(including Texas
) and Mexico
. It was introduced to Hawaii
in 1902 to aid in the control of Lantana.
The wingspan
is about 7 mm. Adults are very light brown with whitish bars on the fore wings.
The larvae feed on Lantana
species, including Lantana urticoides, Lantana urticifolia, Lantana hispida, Lantana hirsuta and Lantana camara
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a large bulged or inflated mine on the leaf, equally visible on both sides of the leaf. There may be as many as twenty larvae per leaf. The larvae are pale green.
Pupation takes place in a white, spindle-shaped ribbed cocoon of about 5 mm long which is suspended in the mine by a silken thread attached at each end.
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 native to the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
) and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It was introduced to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in 1902 to aid in the control of Lantana.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 7 mm. Adults are very light brown with whitish bars on the fore wings.
The larvae feed on Lantana
Lantana
Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both...
species, including Lantana urticoides, Lantana urticifolia, Lantana hispida, Lantana hirsuta and Lantana camara
Lantana camara
Lantana camara, also known as Spanish Flag or West Indian Lantana, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It has been introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is considered an invasive species in many...
. 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 consists of a large bulged or inflated mine on the leaf, equally visible on both sides of the leaf. There may be as many as twenty larvae per leaf. The larvae are pale green.
Pupation takes place in a white, spindle-shaped ribbed cocoon of about 5 mm long which is suspended in the mine by a silken thread attached at each end.