''Phyllocnistis'' is a genus of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s in the family

Gracillariidae 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, ''Camerar ...

Description

Adult

Adults of the genus ''Phyllocnistis'' are very small moths with wingspans generally not exceeding 5 mm. Both fore- and hindwings are lanceolate and predominantly white. The forewings are marked with yellow to orange, longitudinal and oblique striae, often bordered by gray or black. A few species are known to possess much darker or strikingly color patterns. The compound eyes of ''Phyllocnistis'' are reduced, with an interocular index (vertical eye diameter/minimum interocular distance) of approximately 0.9. The maxillary palpi are the most reduced among Gracillariidae, being barely evident as vestigial, non-segmented lobes at the base of the elongate proboscis. The wing venation is also reduced.

Larvae

The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of ''Phyllocnistis'' are among the most specialized Lepidoptera. Four

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ...

s appear to be the norm, with the first three instars possessing a sapfeeding morphology and behavior. Sapfeeding instars create a long serpentine, subepidermal

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

on either the upper or lower surfaces of the host leaf. A few species also form subepidermal mines on stems and various fruits, including

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

. A characteristic, median

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...

trail extends the length of the mine, usually as a dark, unbroken line. The fourth instar is a highly specialized, apodal, non-feeding instar whose primary function is to spin the cocoon, at the mine terminus, prior to pupation.

Pupae

In contrast to the conservative morphology of the larval and adult stages, the

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

e of ''Phyllocnistis'' are structurally diverse, particularly with regard to the development of the frontal process (cocoon-cutter) of the head. In addition, the mid-dorsal areas of abdominal terga 3–7 possess a mostly symmetrical cluster of recurved spines that frequently differ in their arrangement and form among species.

Ecology

''Phyllocnistis'' can be found on many host plants, and have been noted on plants from at least 20 families. One well-known species is the citrus leafminer (''Phyllocnistis citrella''), a pest of plants in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Der ...

, especially citrus.Heppner, J. B
''Phyllocnistis citrella''.
EENY-38. University of Florida IFAS. Published 1998, revised 2013.

Species

As of 2012, about 126 ''Phyllocnistis'' species have been described. This is probably a fraction of the true diversity of the genus, especially in the tropics, where there may be hundreds of species yet to be collected.Brito, R., et al. (2012)
A new species of ''Phyllocnistis'' Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) from southern Brazil, with life-history description and genetic comparison to congeneric species.
''Zootaxa'' 3582, 1–16. Phyllocnistis citrella adult

Phyllocnistis liriodendronella leaf miner

*'' Phyllocnistis abatiae'' E. M. Hering, 1958 *'' Phyllocnistis acmias'' Meyrick, 1906 *'' Phyllocnistis ampelopsiella'' Chambers, 1871 *'' Phyllocnistis amydropa'' Meyrick, 1934 *'' Phyllocnistis argentella'' (Bradley, 1957) *'' Phyllocnistis argothea'' Meyrick, 1933 *'' Phyllocnistis atractias'' Meyrick, 1906 *'' Phyllocnistis atranota'' Meyrick, 1906 *'' Phyllocnistis aurilinea'' Zeller, 1877 *'' Phyllocnistis baccharidis'' E. M. Hering, 1958 *'' Phyllocnistis bourquini'' Pastrana, 1960 *'' Phyllocnistis breynilla'' Liu & Zeng, 1989 *'' Phyllocnistis canariensis'' M. Hering, 1927 *'' Phyllocnistis cassiella'' Ghesquière, 1940 *'' Phyllocnistis chlorantica'' Seksyaeva, 1992 *'' Phyllocnistis chrysophthalma'' Meyrick, 1915 *'' Phyllocnistis cirrhophanes'' Meyrick, 1915 *''

Phyllocnistis citrella The citrus leafminer (''Phyllocnistis citrella'') is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is also known as CLM in agriculture. It was first found in Florida in 1993, but is now found all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, ...

'' Stainton, 1856 *'' Phyllocnistis citronympha'' Meyrick, 1926 *'' Phyllocnistis cornella'' Ermolaev, 1987 *'' Phyllocnistis diaugella'' Meyrick, 1880 *'' Phyllocnistis dichotoma'' Turner, 1947 *'' Phyllocnistis diplomochla'' Turner, 1923 *'' Phyllocnistis dorcas'' Meyrick, 1915 *'' Phyllocnistis drimiphaga'' Kawahara, Nishida & Davis, 2009 *'' Phyllocnistis echinodes'' Meyrick, 1926 *'' Phyllocnistis embeliella'' Liu & Zeng, 1989 *'' Phyllocnistis endoxa'' Meyrick, 1926 *'' Phyllocnistis ephimera'' Turner, 1926 *'' Phyllocnistis eurymochla'' Turner, 1923 *'' Phyllocnistis exaeta'' Meyrick, 1926 *'' Phyllocnistis exiguella'' van Deventer, 1904 *'' Phyllocnistis extrematrix'' Martynova, 1955 *''

Phyllocnistis finitima ''Phyllocnistis finitima'' is a moth of the family Gracillariidae, known from Arizona, United States, U.S.A. The hostplant for the species is ''Senecio cruentus''. References

Phyllocnistis Endemic fauna of Arizona Endemic insects of the ...

References

External links

Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7188676 Gracillarioidea genera