Phyllocnistis insignis is a moth

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, found throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (including Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, Florida and California).

The hostplants for the species include Arnoglossum muehlenbergii, Erechtites hieracifolia

Erechtites hieracifolia

Erechtites hieracifolia is a plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is native to the Americas, but can be found many places around the world having been introduced by human activity.-Description:...

, Prenanthes alba, and Senecio aureus

Senecio aureus

Packera aurea , commonly known as Golden Ragwort, is a perennial flower in family Asteraceae. It is also known as Life Root, Squaw Weed, Golden Sececio, ragwort, uncum root, waw weed, uncum, false valerian, cough weed, female regulator, cocash weed, ragweed, staggerwort, and St...

. 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 long, narrow, linear, winding mine on the upperside of the leaf.