''Phyllonorycter adderis'' is a

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 ...

of 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 ...

. It is found in south-western Rwanda in montane, closed canopy forests at an altitude of about 1,800 metres. The length of the forewings is 2.85–2.96 mm. The forewing ground colour is ochreous with white markings. The hindwings are dark grey with a long fringe of the same shading as the hindwing. Adults are on wing in August. The

larvae 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. T ...

feed as

leaf miners 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 ...

on ''

Urena lobata ''Urena'' is the genus of plants, which grow in various tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Some view the plant as a weed, but others make use of its fiber for various purposes. The leaves and flowers are also a famine food in Africa. It ...

''. The mine has the form of a semi-transparent tentiform mine which is made on the underside of the leaf. Several mines can be present on a single leaf.

Etymology

The specific epithet is derived from Latin ''addere'' (meaning to append) and refers to the long appendical cucullus on the valve.

References

Moths described in 2012 adderis Moths of Africa {{Phyllonorycter-stub Leaf miners Taxa named by Jurate de Prins Lepidoptera of Rwanda