''Perittia lonicerae'', the honeysuckle leaf miner, 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

Elachistidae The Elachistidae (grass-miner moths) are a family of small moths in the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea. Some authors lumpers and splitters, lump about 3,300 species in eight subfamilies here, but this arrangement almost certainly result ...

. It was first discovered in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in 1949. It was later found in

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 ...

in 1982, although it was described as new. Several other species are known from the eastern Palearctic Region, so it is likely that ''P. lonicerae'' originated there instead of Hawaii where it was first found. The larvae feed on ''

Lonicera japonica ''Lonicera japonica'', known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to East Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species i ...

''. They mine the leaves of their host plant.

External links

* Elachistidae Leaf miners Endemic moths of Hawaii Moths of Japan Moths described in 1950 {{Elachistidae-stub