Ectoedemia weaveri
Encyclopedia
Ectoedemia weaveri is a moth
of the Nepticulidae
family. It is found from Fennoscandia
and northern Russia
to the Pyrenees
and Italy
, and from Great Britain
through Russia
(Baikal, Chita, Yakutia and Magadan regions in eastern Siberia) to Hokkaido in Japan
.
The wingspan
is about 7 mm. Adults are on wing from April to August in western Europe.
The larvae feed on Vaccinium vitis-idaea
. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long corridor, with the frass concentrated in a broad central line, leaving a clear margin at either side. The gallery widens into a large full depth blotch, with a central concentration of frass. The full-grown larva makes an exit slit in the lower epidermis and spins an orange-yellow cocoon within the mine, that is connected to the exit by a silken tunnel. The cocoon causes a blister-like wound on the leaf.
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 Nepticulidae
Nepticulidae
Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes . These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, include the smallest of all living moths, with a wingspan that can be as little as 3 mm...
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...
and northern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
through Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(Baikal, Chita, Yakutia and Magadan regions in eastern Siberia) to Hokkaido in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
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 on wing from April to August in western Europe.
The larvae feed on Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium vitis-idaea is a short evergreen shrub in the heath family that bears edible sour fruit, native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. In the past it was seldom cultivated, but fruit was commonly collected in the wild. ...
. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a long corridor, with the frass concentrated in a broad central line, leaving a clear margin at either side. The gallery widens into a large full depth blotch, with a central concentration of frass. The full-grown larva makes an exit slit in the lower epidermis and spins an orange-yellow cocoon within the mine, that is connected to the exit by a silken tunnel. The cocoon causes a blister-like wound on the leaf.