Cameraria virgulata
Encyclopedia
Cameraria virgulata is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from India
(West Bengal, Karnataka), the Ryukyu Islands
and Nepal
.
The wingspan
is 5.1-6.1 mm.
The larva
e feed on Butea
species (including Butea monosperma
), Desmodium
species, Pongamia pinnata
and Pueraria montana
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a blotch mine on the upperside of the leaf.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae
Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella....
family. It is known from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(West Bengal, Karnataka), the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 5.1-6.1 mm.
The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e feed on Butea
Butea
Butea or Flame of the Forest is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the pea family, Fabaceae. It has two species. Butea monosperma, also known as Flame of the Forest or Bastard Teak in English, Kingshuk or Palash in Bengali or Hindi, Kesudo or Khakhro in Gujarati, is native to India and...
species (including Butea monosperma
Butea monosperma
Butea monosperma is a species of Butea native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and western Indonesia...
), Desmodium
Desmodium
Desmodium is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time....
species, Pongamia pinnata
Pongamia pinnata
Milletia pinnata is a species of tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, native in tropical and temperate Asia including parts of India, China, Japan, Malesia, Australia and Pacific islands. It is often known by the synonym Pongamia pinnata as it was moved to the genus Millettia only recently...
and Pueraria montana
Pueraria montana
Pueraria montana is a species of plant in the botanical family Fabaceae. At least three sub-species are known. It is closely related to other species in the genus Pueraria and the common name kudzu is used for all of these species and hybrids between them...
. They mine
Leaf miner
Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a blotch mine on the upperside of the leaf.