''Eriocrania'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Eriocraniidae Eriocraniidae is a family of moths restricted to the Holarctic region, with six extant genera. These small, metallic moths are usually day-flying, emerging fairly early in the northern temperate spring. They have a proboscis with which they drin ...

. The moths are diurnal, flying in sunshine, and the larvae are

leaf mine 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 (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which ...

rs, forming blotches in leaves.

Description

The moths are diurnal flying in sunshine, at dawn during March, April and May. They often fly around the host trees. On cold, sunny days they can be found on the branches, and by beating a branch over a beating tray can be seen motionless, when they fall on to the cloth. At rest the wings are held at a steep angle and are purple or golden, sometimes with net-like or mottled markings. The head has spiky scales on top. Many of the adults are difficult to tell apart and can only be identified by genitalia dissection. Eggs are laid in a leaf bud or the

parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...

of a leaf. Larvae are white or gray and mine leaves, forming large blotches with long, intertwining strands of

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 ...

, on the leaves of birches (''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'' species), hazel (''

Corylus Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, ...

'' species), hornbeam (''

Carpinus Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives from the hard ...

'' species) or oaks (''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'' species). The mines appear in the spring, shortly after the leaves are fully open. Pupation takes place in the soil within a tough silken cocoon.

Etymology

The generic name was

raised ''Raised'' is the third studio album by American country artist Hailey Whitters. It was released on March 18, 2022, via a partnership between Big Loud and her own imprint, Pigasus. Background Heavily inspired by her Midwestern upbringing in Iow ...

Philipp Christoph Zeller Philipp Christoph Zeller (8 April 1808 – 27 March 1883) was a German entomologist. Zeller was born at Steinheim an der Murr, Württemberg, two miles from Marbach, the birthplace of Schiller. The family moved to Frankfurt (Oder) where Ph ...

in 1851. ''Eriocrania'' means woolly-headed, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, erion – wool and kranion – upper part of the head.

Species

*''

Eriocrania alpinella ''Eriocrania alpinella'' is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae, found in Central Europe, including Austria and Switzerland and possibly neighbouring countries. The wingspan is 10.5-11.5 mm and the moth flies in June and July. The larvae m ...

'' *''

Eriocrania breviapex ''Eriocrania breviapex'' is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae. It is found in the Cayuga Lake Basin of north-western New York. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opp ...

'' *'' Eriocrania carpinella'' *''

Eriocrania chrysolepidella ''Eriocrania chrysolepidella'' (also known as the small hazel purple) 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 haz ...

'' *''

Eriocrania cicatricella ''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 (''Betula'' species). Description The wingspan is about 11&nb ...

'' *'' Eriocrania komaii'' *''

Eriocrania sakhalinella ''Eriocrania sakhalinella'' is a moth of the family Eriocraniidae. It was described, in 1983 by Mikhail Vasilievich Kozlov, from a specimen found on Sakhalin Island, Russia. It is also found in Japan Japan is an island country in East ...

'' *''

Eriocrania salopiella ''Eriocrania salopiella'' (also known as the small birch purple) 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 (' ...

'' *''

Eriocrania sangii ''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. De ...

'' *''

Eriocrania semipurpurella ''Eriocrania semipurpurella'' (Purplish birch-miner) 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 sa ...

'' *''

Eriocrania sparrmannella ''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 ...

'' *''

Eriocrania 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 b ...

References

External links

Eriocrania at funet
Leaf miners Moth genera Glossata genera Taxa named by Philipp Christoph Zeller {{Eriocranioidea-stub