Cupedia cupediella
Encyclopedia
Cupedia cupediella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is found from Sardinia
to Bulgaria
and Greece
.
The larva
e feed on Pistacia terebinthus. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as an epidermal, sometimes branched, lower-surface corridor, later a lower-surface tentiform mine, which is almost invariably at the leaf margin, with folded epidermis. The mine is eaten out until only the veins remain. Pupation takes place outside of the mine in a small dirty white, transparent cocoon.
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 found from Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
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 Pistacia terebinthus. 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 starts as an epidermal, sometimes branched, lower-surface corridor, later a lower-surface tentiform mine, which is almost invariably at the leaf margin, with folded epidermis. The mine is eaten out until only the veins remain. Pupation takes place outside of the mine in a small dirty white, transparent cocoon.