Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Genus Antispila Rank Species | Subphylum Hexapoda Family Heliozelidae Phylum Arthropoda Order Butterflies and moths | |
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Similar Antispila, Butterflies and moths, Heliozelidae, Antispila viticordifoliella, Pnigalio | ||
The tupelo leafminer moth (Antispila nysaefoliella) is a species of moth of the Heliozelidae family. It is found in south-eastern North America.
The wingspan is about 8 mm. Adults are on wing in spring.
The larvae feed on Nyssa sylvatica. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine is blotch-shaped and tends to expand radially and typically becomes more oblong-shaped at later instars. The last instars form an oval-shaped double-sided shield by encasing themselves with silk between the upper and lower mine layers. They then cut the shield and descend into the leaf litter for pupation. Larvae can be found from late August to early September.
References
Antispila nysaefoliella Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA