Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Gelechiidae | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Microlechia | |
Microlechia rhamnifoliae is a moth in the Gelechiidae family. It was described by Amsel and Hering in 1931. It is found on the Canary Islands and Cyprus, as well as in Morocco, Greece, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Namibia and South Africa.
The larvae feed on Rhamnus palaestina. The spin together two or three leaves, and mines them out. The mine is full-depth and hooklike. It starts as a narrow gallery, but quickly widens into a blotch. Pupation takes place outside of the mine. The larvae have a dirty grey body and shining black head.
References
Microlechia rhamnifoliae Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA