Trifurcula alypella
Encyclopedia
Trifurcula alypella is a moth
of the Nepticulidae
family. It is found in mainland Spain
, Mallorca
and France
.
The habitat consists of warm limestone areas.
The wingspan
is 4.75–5 mm.
The larvae feed on Globularia alypum. The mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as an inconspicuous whitish corridor with yellow brown frass
. Then the corridor follows the leaf margin in a somewhat wavy pattern. In this stage, there is a black frass line that varies in width but never takes the full width of the corridor. In the end, the corridor switches from upper-surface to lower-surface or vica versa. The exit slit is usually upper-surface. Recognisable mines are generally found in larger leaves. Small leaves are completely and unrecognisably mined out.
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 in mainland Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Mallorca
Mallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The habitat consists of warm limestone areas.
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 4.75–5 mm.
The larvae feed on Globularia alypum. The 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 inconspicuous whitish corridor with yellow brown 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...
. Then the corridor follows the leaf margin in a somewhat wavy pattern. In this stage, there is a black frass line that varies in width but never takes the full width of the corridor. In the end, the corridor switches from upper-surface to lower-surface or vica versa. The exit slit is usually upper-surface. Recognisable mines are generally found in larger leaves. Small leaves are completely and unrecognisably mined out.