''Spuleria'' is a genus of

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 ...

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 contains only one species ''Spuleria flavicaput'', which is found in most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The larvae

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

the twigs of hawthorns.

Taxonomy

Some authors list the genus as a synonym of ''

Chrysoclista ''Chrysoclista'' is a genus of moths of the family Agonoxenidae described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854. Taxonomy The genus is mostly placed in the family Agonoxenidae, but other authors list it as a member of the families Elachistidae, Cosm ...

''. If valid, the genus is mostly placed in the family

, but other authors list it as a member of the family

Agonoxenidae The Agonoxeninae are a subfamily of moths. History of classification Formerly, the subfamily only contained four named species – all in the type genus '' Agonoxena'' – if (e.g. following Nielsen ''et al.'', 1996). Such a monotypic ar ...

Cosmopterigidae The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects (cosmet moths) in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previ ...

Blastodacnidae The Agonoxeninae are a subfamily of moths. History of classification Formerly, the subfamily only contained four named species – all in the type genus '' Agonoxena'' – if (e.g. following Nielsen ''et al.'', 1996). Such a monotypic ar ...

. The genus ''Spuleria'' 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 ...

by the German

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 ...

Ottmar Hofmann Ottmar Hofmann (20 September 1835, in Frankfurt am Main – 22 February 1900, in Regensburg) was a German entomologist. He is not to be confused with Ernst Hofmann, also an entomologist specialising in Lepidoptera. Ottmar Hofmann was a physician ...

in 1897, in honour of

Arnold Spuler Arnold Spuler (1 June 1869, Durmersheim – 15 March 1937, Aidenried, Upper Bavaria) was a German physician, an entomologist and a politician. Biography After attending the gymnasium in Karlsruhe, Spuler was drafted in the 30th Regiment of Fie ...

; also a German entomologist.

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian Hardy Haworth (19 April 1767, in Kingston upon Hull, Hull – 24 August 1833, in Chelsea, London, Chelsea) was an England, English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist. Family The younger son of Benjamin Haworth, of Haworth Hall and ...

gave the moth the specific name ''flavicaput'' in 1828, from ″''flavus''″ – yellow and ″''caput''″ – the head, which describes the adult. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was found in England at

Battersea Fields Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies ...

, London.

Description of ''Spuleria flavicaput''

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 12–14 mm. The head is orange-yellow. Palpi yellow, basal half blackish, terminal joint very short. Forewings are purplish-black; plical and second discal stigmata black, raised. Hindwings are dark fuscous. The larva is slender and whitish with the head and anal plates dark brown.

Biology

Adults are diurnal, i.e. flying in the morning from May to June, around the larval food plant. The moths lay their eggs, in July and August, on a small twig of hawthorn (''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, whitethorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It grows to about tall, producing plant sexuality, hermaphrodite flowers i ...

'') and midland hawthorn (''

Crataegus laevigata ''Crataegus laevigata'', known as the Midland hawthorn, English hawthorn, woodland hawthorn, or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from Great Britain (where it is typically found in ancient woodland and o ...

''); at the base of a small side shoot. The twigs are the thickness of a

knitting needle A knitting needle or knitting pin is a tool in hand-knitting to produce knitted fabrics. They generally have a long shaft and taper at their end, but they are not nearly as sharp as sewing needles. Their purpose is two-fold. The long shaft '' ...

and larvae start boring into the pith at a fork towards the tip. The gallery follows the pith and is approximately long, broad with blackish walls. At the end it turns towards the outside of the twig, usually on the underside. Larvae

the twigs from August to October. The only indication of a mine is an exit hole, which is oval and about 3 mm wide and partly covered by a thin covering of bark; there is no sign of frass in the gallery or extruding from the exit hole. Before pupation the larva closes the gallery near the exit hole with a web. At the other end of the mine, the larva makes a broader section in the gallery which can partly enter the main twig and pupation takes place there before winter.

References

External links

Lepiforum de

Plant Parasites of Europe
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17643753 Elachistidae Leaf miners Monotypic moth genera Moths described in 1828 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth Taxa named by Ottmar Hofmann