Porphyrosela desmodiella
Encyclopedia
Porphyrosela desmodiella is a moth
of the Gracillariidae
family. It is known from Brazil
, Cuba
, the Virgin Islands
(Saint Thomas), Canada
(Ontario) and the United States
(including Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, New York, Vermont and Washington).
The wingspan
is 4.5-5 mm.
The larva
e feed on Bradburya species, Centrosema virginianum, Desmodium
species (including Desmodium tortuosum and Desmodium viridiflorum), Lespedeza
species (including Lespedeza bicolor
, Lespedeza capitata and Lespedeza thunbergii), Phaseolus
species, Strophostyles leiosperma and Trifolium repens. They mine
the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a blotch mine on the underside of the leaf. They are gregarious. Pupation occurs within the mine.
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 Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
(Saint Thomas), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Ontario) and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(including Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, New York, Vermont and Washington).
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 4.5-5 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 Bradburya species, Centrosema virginianum, 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 (including Desmodium tortuosum and Desmodium viridiflorum), Lespedeza
Lespedeza
Lespedeza is a genus of some 40 species of flowering plants in the pea family , commonly known as bush clovers or Japanese clovers...
species (including Lespedeza bicolor
Lespedeza bicolor
Lespedeza bicolor is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names shrubby bushclover, shrub lespedeza, and bicolor lespedeza. It is native to Asia and it is widely grown as an ornamental plant...
, Lespedeza capitata and Lespedeza thunbergii), Phaseolus
Phaseolus
Phaseolus is a genus in the family Fabaceae of about fifty plant species, all native to the Americas.At least four of the species have been domesticated since pre-Columbian times for their beans. Most prominent among these is the common bean, P...
species, Strophostyles leiosperma and Trifolium repens. 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 underside of the leaf. They are gregarious. Pupation occurs within the mine.