{"id":28193,"date":"2017-02-13T10:35:52","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T10:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/animalia\/arthropoda\/insecta\/lepidoptera\/gelechiidae\/phthorimaea\/phthorimaea-operculella\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T11:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T09:40:52","slug":"phthorimaea-operculella","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/parasites\/animalia\/arthropoda\/insecta\/lepidoptera\/ditrysia\/gelechioidea\/gelechiidae\/gelechiinae\/gnorimoschemini\/phthorimaea\/phthorimaea-operculella\/","title":{"rendered":"Phthorimaea operculella"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phthorimaea operculella<\/em> (Zeller, 1873)<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

potato tuber moth<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

on Solanaceae<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\"Phthorimaea
\n
\n<\/p>\n

Solanum nigrum<\/em>, Canary Islands, El Hierro<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

mine<\/h3>\n

Oviposition is in the ground; larvae therefore have to search and mount a host plant. Large, glassy, irregular blotches without a recognisable preceding corridor. Frass in a black mass, mainly in the oldest part of the mine. The larvae move several times, and can also bore in the stem and underground parts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

host plants<\/h3>\n

Solanaceae, oligophagous<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Capsicum<\/a>; Datura<\/a> stramonium; Hyoscyamus<\/a> albus; Lycium<\/a> europaeum; Lycopersicon<\/a> esculentum; Nicotiana<\/a> glauca, rustica, tabacum; Solanum<\/a> dulcamara, melongena, nigrum, tuberosum, villosum.<\/p>\n

Also associated with Brassica<\/a> oleracea; Daucus<\/a> carota; Pimenta<\/a> dioica<\/em> (Vera).<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

phenology<\/h3>\n

Larvae in July – September (Bland ao, Britain, 2002a); several generations per year in warmer regions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

BENELUX<\/h3>\n

BE recorded (Phegea, 2009).<\/p>\n

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).<\/p>\n

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

distribution within Europe<\/h3>\n

All Europe south of the line Ireland – Southern Russia (Fauna Europaea, 2009). Originally a Neotropical species.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

pupa<\/h3>\n

Described by Pato\u010dka & Tur\u010d\u00e1ni (2005a).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

synonyms<\/h3>\n

Gelechia operculella<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

notes<\/h3>\n

Everywhere in the tropics and subtropics, including the Mediterranean Region, a serious pest on potato, to a lesser degree also tobacco. The main damage is caused by damaging the potato tubers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

references<\/h3>\n

Aguiar & Karsholt (2006a), Bella & Karsholt (2015a), Bidzilya, Karsholt, Kravchenko & \u0160umpich (2019a), Biesenbaum (2000b), Bland, Corley, Emmet ao (2002a), Elsner, Huemer & Tok\u00e1r (1999a), G\u00f3mez de Aizp\u00farua (2003a), Hering (1927a, 1936b, 1957a), Huemer (2024a), Huemer & Karsholt (2010a), Huemer & Mayr (2000a), Huertas Dionisio (2007a), Karsholt, Baldizzone & Gomboc (2023a), Karsholt & Huemer (2017a), Klimesch (1955a, 1984a), Kov\u00e1cs & Kov\u00e1cs (1999a, 2022a), Kuchlein & Donner (1993a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Langmaid & Young (2009a), Lepiforum<\/a> (2026), Pato\u010dka & Tur\u010d\u00e1ni (2005a), De Prins (1998a), De Prins & Steeman (2011a), De Prins, Steeman & Sierens (2016a), Requena (2009a), Rivera & Burrack (2012a), van Roosmalen, Wijker & Knijnsberg (2013a), Stehr (1987a, 2002a), Swezey (1944a), Sz\u0151cs (1977a), Vieira (1997a), Vieira, Borges, Karsholt & Wunderlich (2003a).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) potato tuber moth on Solanaceae Solanum nigrum, Canary Islands, El Hierro mine Oviposition is in the ground; larvae therefore have to search and mount a host plant. Large, glassy, irregular blotches without a recognisable preceding corridor. Frass in a black mass, mainly in the oldest part of the mine. The larvae […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":28192,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"parasite-species.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28193","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-parasite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28193"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":994514,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28193\/revisions\/994514"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bladmineerders.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}