Lithocolletinae is a subfamily of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

. It is distributed worldwide, with most species in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

regions.Davis, D. R. and J. De Prins. (2011)
Systematics and biology of the new genus ''Macrosaccus'' with descriptions of two new species (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae).
''ZooKeys'' (98), 29-82.

Diversity and distribution

As of 2012, the subfamily contains over 540 species divided into ten

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

.De Prins, J. and A. Y. Kawahara. (2012)
Systematics, revisionary taxonomy, and biodiversity of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae).
''Zootaxa'' 3594: 1–283. About half are native to the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, and over 100 occur in the Nearctic realm. About 66 species occur in the Afrotropical realm, 41 of which were described in the year 2012.

Description

Moths of the subfamily are small, with wingspans under 10 millimeters. They are often colorful, with forewings in shades of orange or red-brown with white or silvery streaks, and a metallic, shiny ground color. Another trait sometimes used to distinguish species is the style 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 G ...

distribution. Species may leave their frass scattered about, deposited neatly along leaf veins or gathered at the feeding area, knit into a pile with silk threads, or spun into the cocoon.

Biology

These moths are associated with at least 870 species of host plants in 36 botanical families. Many feed on plants of the

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

family, Fabaceae, and five genera are limited to them. Many species are monophagic, known from only one host plant. 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. Th ...

e of most species are found on legumes, as well as the beech family (Fagaceae), the birch family (Betulaceae), the rose family (Rosaceae), and the willow family (Salicaceae). Most larvae are

leaf miner 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, the mother clade of wasp ...

s, which feed on leaves and produce distorting tissue damage. Most larvae suck

sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...

during their first three

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 o ...

s, and consume the leaves during their final two instar stages. Familiar

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

in the subfamily include ''

Cameraria ohridella The horse-chestnut leaf miner (''Cameraria ohridella'') is a leaf-mining moth of the family Gracillariidae. The horse-chestnut leaf miner was first observed in North Macedonia in 1984, and was described as a new species in 1986.

'', which feeds on horse chestnut (''Aesculus hippocastanum''), '' Phyllonorycter blancardella'', which feeds on

apples An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

(''Malus'' spp.), ''

Cremastobombycia lantanella ''Cremastobombycia lantanella'', the lantana leaf miner, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It was first described by August Busck in 1910. It is native to the southern United States (including Texas) and Mexico. It was introduced to Hawaii ...

'', which attacks

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially ...

(''Lantana camara''). Some larvae produce

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external Tissue (biology), tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissu ...

s on plants.

Genera

There are 11 genera. The largest, ''Phyllonorycter'', contains around 400 species, while the smallest, ''Protolithocolletis'', has only one species. ''Phyllonorycter'' contains many species of unclear

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

origins and uncertain taxonomic classification. The definitions of the genera are not yet fully developed. Molecular analysis is ongoing. Collection of specimens is continuing, and new genera are being observed and will be described in the future. Genera: *'' Cameraria'' Chapman, 1902 *'' Chrysaster'' Kumata, 1961 *'' Cremastobombycia'' Braun, 1908 *'' Hyloconis'' Kumata, 1963 *'' Leucanthiza'' Clemens, 1859 *''

Macrosaccus ''Macrosaccus'' is a genus of moths in the family Gracillariidae. Etymology The generic name is derived from the ancient Greek ''μακρο''- (meaning long) and ''σάκκος'' (meaning bag) in reference to the elongate saccus in the male gen ...

'' Davis and De Prins, 2011 *'' Neolithocolletis'' Kumata, 1963 *'' Phyllonorycter'' Hübner, 1822 *'' Porphyrosela'' Braun, 1908 *'' Protolithocolletis'' Braun, 1929 *'' Triberta'' De Prins ''et al.'', 2013

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1315117