| Stigmella microtheriella | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nepticulidae |
| Genus: | Stigmella |
| Species: | S. microtheriella |
| Binomial name | |
| Stigmella microtheriella = (Stainton, 1854) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Stigmella microtheriella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae, found in Asia, Europe and New Zealand. The larvae mine the leaves of hazel (Corylus species) and hornbeams (Carpinus species). It was described by the English entomologist, Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854 from a type specimen found in England.
Description
The wingspan is 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in).The head is ochreous-yellowish, the collar ochreous-whitish. The antennal eyecaps are ochreous-whitish. The forewings are purplish-fuscous with a rather oblique shining whitish fascia beyond middle. The apical area beyond this is darker and more purple. The hindwings are grey.
Adults are on wing in May and again in August. The moths are parthenogenetic.
- Egg
Laid on the underside of a leaf, usually near a rib on hazel (Corylus avellana) and sometimes hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Other recorded host are Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis), Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna), the filbert (Corylus maxima), European hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) and American hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana).
- Larvae
Yellow with a bright green gut; the head is light brown. They feed venter (belly) upwards. The mines are narrow and often angular and the linear frass fills less than half of the mine. The mine widens gradually but is never wider than the width of the larva.
- Cocoon
Yellowish brown or pinkish on the ground.
Distribution
It is found in all of Europe. It is also present in the eastern Palearctic realm and the Australasian realm, where it is found in New Zealand (it was introduced here from Britain around 1850).
Etymology
The moth was described by Stainton from a specimen found in England, and he assigned the moth to the genus Nepticula, from neptis – a granddaughter; potentially the smallest member of a family and referring to the moths small size. It was later moved to the genus Stigmella. Stigma – ″a brand, a small spot″, from the moths small size, or more likely from a conspicuous, sometimes metallic, fascia on the wings of many of the moths in the genus. When described, the moth was thought to be the smallest, hence microtheriella; micros – small and therion – a little creature.
References
- "Stigmella microtheriella (Stainton, 1854)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London
- lepiforum.de includes images
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Emmet, A. M., 1976. Nepticulidae. — In: J. Heath (ed.). The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland 1: 171—267, pls. 1—7, 11, 12.
- "Stigmella microtheriella". UK moths. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
- ^ Emmet, A M (1988). A Field Guide to the Smaller British Lepidoptera (Second ed.). London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. p. 30. ISBN 0-9502891-6-7.
- "Stigmella microtheriella (Stainton, 1854)". Bladmineerders.nl. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
- ^ Heath, John (1983). Eriocraniidae. In The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 1. Colchester: Harley Books. p. 260. ISBN 0-946589-15-1.
- Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 45–7. ISBN 0-946589-35-6.
External links
- Swedish moths
- Stigmella microtheriella images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
- Fauna of New Zealand – Number 16: Nepticulidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera) Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Stigmella microtheriella |
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