Metriochroa syringae
Encyclopedia
Metriochroa syringae is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Japan
(Hokkaidō).
The wingspan
is 5.6-6.5 mm.
The larva
e feed on Syringa reticulata
. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a narrowly linear mine. Later, it gradually widens into a very long and irregularly curved gallery that is sometimes fused into a large blotch. The last sap-feeding larva makes an inter parenchymal mine, so that the mine is seen from the upper side of the leaf as a trace of pale greenish mottles in this stage. A pupal chamber is found within the mine, but not always at the end of the mine. It is ellipsoidal, with very slightly swollen upper and lower sides.
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 Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(Hokkaidō).
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 5.6-6.5 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 Syringa reticulata
Syringa reticulata
Syringa reticulata is a species of Lilac, native to eastern Asia, in northern Japan , northern China, Korea, and far southeastern Russia....
. 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 a narrowly linear mine. Later, it gradually widens into a very long and irregularly curved gallery that is sometimes fused into a large blotch. The last sap-feeding larva makes an inter parenchymal mine, so that the mine is seen from the upper side of the leaf as a trace of pale greenish mottles in this stage. A pupal chamber is found within the mine, but not always at the end of the mine. It is ellipsoidal, with very slightly swollen upper and lower sides.