Acrolepiopsis tauricella (Staudinger, 1870)

Lepidoptera, Glyphipterigidae

mine

The young larva makes one or two tiny full depth blotch mines from which almost all frass is ejected though an opening in a corner. When the larva is c. 5 mm it starts living freely under the leaf (for some time still returning to the mine during feeding pauses) and causes window feeding or, when the leaf is thinner, skeleton feeding. Often so many mines in a leaf that it seems perforated.

hostplants

Dioscoreaceae; monophagous

Dioscorea communis.

distribution within Europe

Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Ukraine (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

larva

Head and pale yellowish green, thoracic feet greyish brown, pinacula black.

pupa

Light brown to blackish; pupation in reticulate brownish cocoon.

synonyms

Acrolepia karolyii Szőcs, 1969a.

references

Baldizzone & Triberti (1978a), Baldizzone, Varalda & Donato (2010a), Gaedike (1972a), Szőcs (1969a, 1977a).

23/11/2014