| Azalea leaf miner | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Gracillariidae |
| Genus: | Caloptilia |
| Species: | C. azaleella |
| Binomial name | |
| Caloptilia azaleella | |
| Synonyms | |
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Caloptilia azaleella (azalea leaf miner) is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is endemic to Japan, but has been introduced worldwide, wherever there are Azaleas. [2]
Initially described in the Netherlands from plants imported from Japan, it is found throughout Europe and has also been introduced to New Zealand and eastern Australia. [3] In the southern part of Britain it occurs in sheltered gardens including Buckingham Palace, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens, Wisley. [4] It has been widely reported in greenhouses. In the United States the species can be found from Florida to Texas, and as far north as Long Island, West Virginia, and the Ohio Valley. [2] On the west coast it is found in California, Washington and British Columbia, Canada. [5]
The type locality is from Boskoop, Netherlands, and was described in 1913, from moths reared on Azalea indica , a cultivar of Rhododendron indicum , which was imported from Japan. [4] The moths forewings are mainly dark-brown with a yellow band along the costal margin. The wingspan is 10–11 millimetres (0.39–0.43 in) and it flies from May to October depending on location and in Britain is double-brooded and sometimes there is a partial third brood. [6]
Caloptilia azaleella deposits its eggs on azalea ( Rhododendron spp) plants, under leaves near the midrib. These are the only hosts so far recorded. [2] The larva initially forms a mine and later rolls the leaf downwards from the tip, forming a cone. [6] When mature a pale-brown pupa is formed in a white, membranous silken cocoon spun beneath a leaf and the moths can mate a week later. [2] [4]
Rhododendron is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants and in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, but smaller numbers occur elsewhere in Asia, and in North America, Europe and Australia.
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, particularly the former sections Tsutsusi (evergreen) and Pentanthera (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees. They are part of the family Ericaceae.
A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies, and flies (Diptera). Some beetles also exhibit this behavior.
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.
Dyseriocrania subpurpurella is a diurnal moth from the family Eriocraniidae, found in most of Europe. The moth was first named by the English entomologist, Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1828.
Eriocrania semipurpurella is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found from Europe to Japan and in North America. It was first described by James Francis Stephens in 1835. The species closely resembles Eriocrania sangii and the larvae of both species mine the leaves of birch.
Phyllonorycter maestingella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in Europe, Russia and British Columbia, Canada.
Tachystola acroxantha is a moth of the family Oecophoridae. It is native to Australia, but is an invasive species in New Zealand and Europe, probably imported with Australian plants.
Eriocrania cicatricella is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae found in Europe. It was first described by Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt in 1839. The larvae mine the leaves of birch.
Eriocrania sparrmannella also known as the mottled purple is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found in Europe and Japan. It was first described by the French entomologist, Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc in 1791. The specific name honours the Swedish naturalist Anders Erikson Sparrman. The larvae mine the leaves of birch.
Parornix anglicella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae found in Asia and Europe. It was described in 1850, by the English entomologist Henry Tibbats Stainton, from a specimen from Lewisham, Kent.
Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae is a moth of the family Gracillariidae found in all of Europe except the Balkan Peninsula. It was described by the German-born Swiss entomologist, Heinrich Frey in 1856. The larvae are known as leaf miners, living inside the leaves of their food plants.
Stigmella oxyacanthella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae, found in Europe and North America. The larvae are leaf miners feeding inside the leaves of trees and shrubs, such as hawthorn, apple and pear.
Stigmella salicis is a moth of the family Nepticulidae which is found in Europe. It was first described by the English entomologist, Henry Stainton in 1854. The type locality is from England.
Stigmella crataegella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae found in Europe. It was described by the Austrian entomologist Josef Wilhelm Klimesch in 1936. The larvae mine the leaves of hawthorns.
Stigmella perpygmaeella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae, found in most of Europe, east to Russia. The larvae mine the leaves of hawthorns.
Bucculatrix thoracella, the lime bent-wing, is species of moth in the family Bucculatricidae, and was first described in 1794 by Carl Peter Thunberg as Tinea thoracella. It is found throughout Europe with exception of Ireland and the Balkan Peninsula, and in Japan, where it occurs on the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu.
Phyllonorycter blancardella, the spotted tentiform leafminer, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from all of Europe, east to Ukraine and central Anatolia. It is also known throughout North America including Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Wisconsin and California.
Coptotriche marginea is a moth of the family Tischeriidae, found in most of Europe. It was named by the English botanist, carcinologist and entomologist, Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1828, from a specimen found in England. The larvae mine the leaves of brambles (Rubus) species.
