Incurvariidae

A small, cosmopolitan family. The larvae initially live as miners; after some time a number of species (Incurvaria does, Phylloporia doesn’t) make an excision in the mine by cutting an oval flap out of the upper and lower epidermis of their mine, and spinning the two together to a portable case. They then drop to the ground and continue their laval existence feeding on dead plant material. They share this diet with the closely related family Adelidae with whom the even are united by Heath & Pelham-Clinton (1976a). Incurvariidae and species of another closely related family, the Heliozelidae, insert their eggs into the plant tissue by means of a sclerotised ovipositor (Davis, 1987a; Dziurzynski, 1958a; Emmet, 1974a).

references

Davis (1987a), Dziurzynski (1958a), Emmet (1974a), Heath & Pelham-Clinton (1976a), Sterling, Parsons & Lewington (2012a).

23/11/2014