Phyllocnistis subpersea 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. It is found in the Dade and Monroe Counties of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Mines of what appear to be this species have been found as far north as the Green Swamp in coastal South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.
The length of the forewings is 2-2.7 mm. Adults have been recorded from February to April in Florida.

The larvae feed on Persea borbonia

Persea borbonia

Persea borbonia has a variety of common names, among them are redbay, scrubbay, shorebay and swampbay. It is related to Persea americana or the avocado tree. It is an evergreen tree that is native to North America, north of Mexico.-Description:...

. 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, slender, serpentine gallery, containing a dark, median frass

Frass

Frass is the fine powdery material phytophagous insects pass as waste after digesting plant parts. It causes plants to excrete chitinase due to high chitin levels, it is a natural bloom stimulant, and has high nutrient levels. Frass is known to have abundant amoeba, beneficial bacteria, and fungi...

trail, on the underside or occasionally the upperside of the leaf, with pupation occurring in a slightly enlarged, elliptical chamber at the mine terminus along a leaf edge. The egg is deposited away from the midrib, usually on the lower side of the leaf. Mine width increases from about 0.3 mm broad to a maximum width of about 2–2.5 mm. The width of the frass trail is usually about half the mine width. Early instars of the larvae have a highly modified, depressed body for sapfeeding. The final instar is non-feeding, with all mouthparts reduced or absent except for functional spinneret.

Etymology

The specific name is derived from the Greek sub (meaning under) and the generic plant name of its host, Persea, in reference to the characteristic leafmining habit of the larva usually on the underside of the leaf.