''Eriocrania sparrmannella'' also known as the mottled purple is a

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, found in Europe and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was first described by the French

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc (or Louis-Augustin Bosc d'Antic) (29 January 1759 – 10 July 1828) was a French botanist, invertebrate zoologist, and entomologist. Biography Bosc was born in Paris, the son of Paul Bosc d’Antic, a medical doctor ...

in 1791. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the Swedish

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Anders Erikson Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748 – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish Natural history, naturalist, abolitionism, abolitionist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography file:Anders Sparrman miniatyr.jpg, left, Portrait miniat ...

. The larvae mine the leaves of birch (''

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).

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is . The head is pale grey, mixed with dark fuscous. The forewings are rather short and broad, pale shining golden and strongly and sharply strigulated with purple. There is a narrow erect dorsal spot of ground-colour before the tornus, reaching half across the wing; cilia grey, sometimes obscurely barred with ochreous-whitish. Vein 9 is absent. The hindwings are rather dark grey, towards apex purplish tinged. The larva is whitish with a brown head, sides blackish and two marks on segment 2 outlined with brown. The moth flies in April and May depending on the location, and can be found during the day flying around birch. ;

Ovum The egg cell or ovum (: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capa ...

Eggs are laid on the leaves of birch. ;Larva Larvae are whitish with a brown head. They feed inside a leaf, starting as a linear mine near the midrib, which widens to a blotch. The

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 ...

is in long threads. They hibernate in the soil. ;Pupa The larvae pupate in a tough cocoon in the soil in the spring.

Distribution

This moth is found in most of Europe and in Japan.

Etymology

Bosc described the moth from a

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

found in Paris, France. He initially allocated the moth to the

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 ...

, ''Tinea'', which means – ''wings wrapped round the body so as to almost form a cylinder''. The present genus ''Eriocrani'', literally means woolly-headed, i.e. rough-haired, referring to the scales on the top of the head. The name is split with ''erion'' referring to wool and ''kranion'' the upper part of the head. The

honours the Swedish

(1748–1820).

References

External links

Swedish Moths
* Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, Londo
pdf
Keys and description.
Lepiforum de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1355069 sparrmannella Leaf miners Moths described in 1791 Moths of Europe Moths of Japan Taxa named by Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc