Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Merimnetria multiformis

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Family
  
Gelechiidae

Rank
  
Species

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Lepidoptera

Genus
  
Merimnetria

Merimnetria multiformis is a moth of the Gelechiidae family. It is endemic to Oahu and possibly Hawaii.

The larvae feed on Kadua coriacea and Kadua macrocarpa. They mine the leaves of their host plant. Very small young plants can be completely defoliated. The mine is at first slender and serpentine. As the larva becomes nearly full-grown, it eats out the whole parenchyma of the leaf and sometimes eats down through the petiole of the leaf to the stem, and sometimes also migrates to another leaf. It emerges from the leaf to form its cocoon on the surface of a leaf, or other suitable situation.

References

Merimnetria multiformis Wikipedia