Phyllonorycter obscuricostella
Encyclopedia
Phyllonorycter obscuricostella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from the United States
(Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine and New York).
The wingspan
is 6-6.5 mm.
The larva
e feed on Ostrya
species, including Ostrya virginiana
and Ostrya virginica. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a small tentiform mine on the underside of the leaf. They are usually located between two veins. The pupa is formed inside of a thin silken web which occupies an entire half of the mine.
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 known from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine and New York).
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 6-6.5 mm.
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 Ostrya
Ostrya
Ostrya is a genus of eight to ten small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Its common name is Hophornbeam in American English and Hop-hornbeam in British English. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.The genus is native in southern...
species, including Ostrya virginiana
Ostrya virginiana
Ostrya virginiana , is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas and northeastern Mexico...
and Ostrya virginica. 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 has the form of a small tentiform mine on the underside of the leaf. They are usually located between two veins. The pupa is formed inside of a thin silken web which occupies an entire half of the mine.