Eriocrania unimaculella

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Eriocrania unimaculella
Eriocrania unimaculella.jpg
Eriocrania unimaculella, North Wales, April 2012 (20264190479).jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Eriocraniidae
Genus: Eriocrania
Species:
E. unimaculella
Binomial name
Eriocrania unimaculella
(Zetterstedt, 1839)
Synonyms [1]
  • Adela unimaculellaZetterstedt, 1839
  • Heringocrania unimaculellaZetterstedt, 1839
  • Micropterix unimaculella

Eriocrania unimaculella (also known as the White-spot Purple) is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae found in Europe. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt in 1839. The larvae feed inside the leaves of birch ( Betula species), making a mine.

Contents

Description

Larva Eriocrania unimaculella larva.JPG
Larva
A mined birch leaf Eriocrania unimaculella a mined birch leaf.JPG
A mined birch leaf

The wingspan is about 1 cm. The head is fuscous, mixed with ochreous-whitish. The forewings are elongate, bronzy-purple, more or less sprinkled with pale shining golden and there is a narrow slightly curved transverse white dorsal spot before the tornus, reaching about half across the wing ; cilia grey Vein 9 is present. The hindwings are grey, posteriorly purplish-tinged. The larva is whitish ; head brown, mouth darker, posterior lobes showing through segment 2 as blackish spots ; segment 6 with small projections. [2] The moth flies from March to April and is the only one of the Eriocraniidae which does not have the distinct golden mottling and a whitish tornal spot; they have purple forewings. [3]

Ovum

Eggs are laid in the leaf-buds of birch. [4]

Larva

Larvae can be found in April and May, are whitish with a brown head and have papillae (small lumps) on the first thoracic segment which show as blackish spots. [4] They mine the leaves of birch ( Betula species), forming a large, white, full depth blotch which withers and disintegrate by late summer. The frass is in long threads and the mine can only be identified when the larva can be seen. Mines have been found on silver birch ( Betula pendula ) and downy birch ( Betula pubescens ). [4] [5] [6]

Pupa

The larvae overwinter as a pupa in the soil, in a tough silken cocoon. [4]

Distribution

The moth is found in Europe; from Great Britain, Ireland and France in the west, north to Scandinavia and east to Russia. [1] The species has been considered invasive and spreading rapidly in Iceland since 2005. [7]

Etymology

The moth was originally named Adela unimaculella and described by Zetterstedt in 1839 from a specimen found in Southern Lapland. [4] Adela was raised by the French zoologist, Pierre André Latreille in 1796. Adela means unseen, from the larval habit of concealing itself in a portable case (but not in the case of this species of moth). Until recently, the moth was in the genus Eriocrania , which was raised by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1851. Erion means wool and kranion means the upper part of the head, which refers to the hair-scales on the top of the head. The moth is now in the genus Heringocrania .[ clarification needed ] The specific name unimaculella is from unus – one, and macula – referring to the white spot on the forewing. [8] [9]

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<i>Dyseriocrania subpurpurella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

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<i>Eriocrania semipurpurella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

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.

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<i>Batrachedra praeangusta</i> Species of moth

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<i>Prays fraxinella</i> Species of moth

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<i>Eriocrania sangii</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

Eriocrania sangii, the large birch purple, is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae found in Europe and described by John Henry Wood in 1891. The moth can be found flying in sunshine around birch trees and the larvae feed on birch leaves.

<i>Eriocrania cicatricella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

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.

<i>Eriocrania salopiella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

Eriocrania salopiella is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae and is found in Europe. It was described by the English entomologist, Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854. The larvae mine the leaves of birch.

<i>Eriocrania sparrmannella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

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.

<i>Eriocrania chrysolepidella</i> Moth species in family Eriocraniidae

Eriocrania chrysolepidella is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae found in Europe. It was first described by the German entomologist, Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1851. The larvae mine the leaves of hazel and hornbeam.

<i>Eriocrania</i> Moth genus in family Eriocraniidae

Eriocrania is a Palearctic genus of moth of the family Eriocraniidae. The moths are diurnal, flying in sunshine, and the larvae are leaf miners, forming blotches in leaves.

<i>Stigmella microtheriella</i> Species of moth

Stigmella microtheriella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae, found in Asia, Europe and New Zealand. The larvae mine the leaves of hazel and hornbeams. It was described by the English entomologist, Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854 from a type specimen found in England.

<i>Stigmella lapponica</i> Species of moth

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<i>Stigmella salicis</i> Species of moth

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<i>Enteucha acetosae</i> Species of moth

Enteucha acetosae, the pygmy sorrel moth, is a moth of the family Nepticulidae found in Europe. It is one of the smallest moths in the world with some having a wingspan of only 3mm. The larvae mine the leaves of docks, leaving bright red tissue around the mines.

<i>Pancalia leuwenhoekella</i>

Pancalia leuwenhoekella is a moth in the family Cosmopterigidae.

<i>Epermenia chaerophyllella</i> Species of moth

Epermenia chaerophyllella, also known as the garden lance-wing, is a moth of the family Epermeniidae first described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1783. It is found in all of Europe and Asia Minor.

<i>Gelechia sororculella</i> Species of moth

Gelechia sororculella, the dark-striped groundling, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is widely distributed from Europe, throughout Siberia to the Russian Far East.

References

  1. 1 2 "Heringocrania unimaculella (Zetterstedt, 1839)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. ↑ Meyrick, E (1895). A Handbook of British Lepidoptera. London: MacMillan.
  3. ↑ Sterling, Phil; Parsons, Mark; Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micromoths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife Publishing. pp. 48–9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Heath, John (1983). Eriocraniidae. In The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 1. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 156–165. ISBN   0-946589-15-1.
  5. ↑ Emmet, A M, ed. (1988). A Field Guide to the Smaller British Lepidoptera (Second ed.). London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. p. 16.
  6. ↑ Ellis, W N. "Heringocrania unimaculella (Zetterstedt, 1839) white-spot purple". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  7. ↑ https://www.ni.is/is/biota/animalia/arthropoda/hexapoda/insecta/lepidoptera/eriocraniidae/birkikemba-heringocrania
  8. ↑ Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 42 & 50. ISBN   0-946589-35-6.
  9. ↑ Smith, Frank. "Microlepidoptera (Micro-Moths)" (PDF). Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
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