Phylloporia bistrigella
Encyclopedia
Phylloporia bistrigella is a moth
of the Incurvariidae
family. It is found in western, northern and central Europe
and north-eastern North America
.
The wingspan
is 7-9 mm.
The larvae feed on Betula species. They mine the leaves of their host plant, usually encircling a good part of the leaf, and finishing in a whitish blotch with scattered frass. It then cuts out an oval case from this position and drops to the ground. The leaf area enclosed within the mine becomes paler and vacated mines are quite distinctive.
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 Incurvariidae
Incurvariidae
Incurvariidae is a family of small primitive monotrysian moths in the order Lepidoptera. There are twelve genera recognised . Many species are leaf miners and much is known of their hostplants, excluding Paraclemensia acerifoliella . The most familiar species in Europe are perhaps Incurvaria...
family. It is found in western, northern and central Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and north-eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
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 7-9 mm.
The larvae feed on Betula species. They mine the leaves of their host plant, usually encircling a good part of the leaf, and finishing in a whitish blotch with scattered frass. It then cuts out an oval case from this position and drops to the ground. The leaf area enclosed within the mine becomes paler and vacated mines are quite distinctive.