Aspilapteryx tringipennella

Aspilapteryx tringipennella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from all of Europe.

Mined leaf of Plantago lanceolata

Larva

Aspilapteryx tringipennella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gracillariidae
Genus:	Aspilapteryx
Species:	A. tringipennella
Binomial name
Aspilapteryx tringipennella (Zeller, 1839)[1]
Synonyms
Gracilaria tringipennella Zeller, 1839

The wingspan is 10–13 mm. Forewings pale greyish ochreous to light ochreous-yellow ; an ill-defined white costal streak from base to near apex ; subcostal and median longitudinal rows of black dots, and sometimes two or three on fold. Hindwings grey.[2]

There are two generations per year, with adults on wing in May and again in August.[3]

The larvae feed on Plantago lanceolata and Plantago maritima. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a long, tortuous, lower-surface (but sometimes upper-surface) epidermal, silvery corridor. After a moult the larva works itself to the upper surface of the leaf and begins to make a blotch and soon after a tentiform mine running along the midrib. The mine contracts very strongly, causing the epidermis to develop strong folds, and the leaf to double, almost concealing the mine. Shortly before pupation the larva eats a window in the floor of the mine, leaving only the lower epidermis intact. The pupa is made in a white cocoon within the mine. After hibernation, the larvae generally leave the mine and start a new tentiform mine elsewhere[4]

References

1. Fauna Europaea
2. Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Keys and description
3. UKmoths
4. "bladmineerders.nl". Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2010-11-04.