''Stigmella plagicolella'' 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 Nepticulidae described by Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854. It is found in all of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

(except

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

) and the Near East.

Description

The

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

is 4–5 mm. The thick erect hairs on the head vertex are orange and the collar dark bronze fuscous-white. Antennal eyecaps are whitish. Forewings are shining deep purplish-bronze ; a shining whitish fascia beyond middle; apical area beyond this dark purple-fuscous Hindwings are grey. Adults are bivoltine and are on wing from May to June and again in August. ;Egg The egg is laid on the underside of a leaf in June or August, usually near the midrib. ;Larva The larvae are pale, whitish yellow with a reddish brown head. They mine the leaves of their host plant, initially in a slender corridor with a wide uninterrupted

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 ...

line. After a moult this corridor abruptly widens into a blotch. ''Stigmella plagicolella'' feed on the following plants, apple (''

Malus domestica 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, ' ...

''), apricot (''

Prunus armeniaca ''Prunus armeniaca'' is the most commonly cultivated apricot species. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation. Genetic studies indicate Central Asia is the center of origin. It is extensively cultivate ...

''), wild cherry ''(

Prunus avium ''Prunus avium'', commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, gean, or bird cherryWorld Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, R ...

''), cherry plum (''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'', the European plum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengag ...

''), ''Prunus domestica insititia'', mahaleb cherry (''

Prunus mahaleb ''Prunus mahaleb'', the mahaleb cherry or St Lucie cherry, is a species of cherry tree. The tree is cultivated for a spice obtained from the seeds inside the cherry stones. The seeds have a fragrant smell and have a taste comparable to bitter almo ...

''), Chinese plum (''

Prunus mume ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus '' Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, lon ...

''), blackthorn (''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania ...

''), Klamath plum ('' Prunus subcordata'') and flowering plum (''

Prunus triloba ''Prunus triloba'', sometimes called flowering plum or flowering almond, a name shared with '' Prunus jacquemontii'',Bailey, L.H.; Bailey, E.Z.; the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. ''Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants ...

''). They mine the leaves of their host plant. ;Pupation Pupation takes place outside of the mine in a pale ochreous brown cocoon.

Etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

''Stigmella hybnerella'' was described by the English

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

, Henry Tibbats Stainton in 1854 from a

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

found in England. The genus ''Stigmella'' – ″stigma″, refers to the conspicuous (or occasionally metallic) small dot or a brand

fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organ ...

on the forewing of many of the ''Stigmella'' species, or possibly the small size of the moths. The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''plagicolella'' refers to ''plaga'' – flat, open ground and ''colo''– to inhabit, on blackthorn, often occurring is such situations.

References

External links

Swedish moths

''Stigmella plagicolella'' images
at

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q427960 Nepticulidae Leaf miners Moths described in 1854 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Henry Tibbats Stainton