Ectoedemia (Ectoedemia) Busck (1907)
Description. Adult. Small to moderately large nepticulid moths, forewing length 1.7 — 3.7 mm (wingspan 3.2— 8.4 mm).
Head. Antennae short or long; in male with 24 — 63 segments, in female with 21 — 43. Wings. Colour pattern variable,
often a white medial fascia or costal and dorsal spots present, sometimes basal or discal spot in addition, sometimes white
markings absent. Cilia-line present except in occultella-group and populella. Hindwing in male either with costal bristles
or hair-pencil, in some species both absent. Additional special scales occur in several species. Humeral lobe not very prominent,
or absent. Forewing venation. R and M + Cu forming closed cell, branches R, R2+3, R4, R5, M and Cu present. A thickened, without anal loop.
Cu and A in some species very long, seeming fused at tips. Male genitalia. Vinculum ring shaped, anterior extension short,
anteriorly convex. Tegumen produced into distinct pseuduncus, of variable form. Uncus absent. Gnathos with spatulate or
triangular central element, sometimes divided into a distal spatulate part and basal part with serrate margins. Valva
approximately triangular, or almost rectangular, with tip directed inwards or posteriorly, often clearly separate from rest
of valva. No mesal (inner) lobes present. Aedeagus in all but one species with ventral carinae, often bi- or multifurcate,
and in some species in addition with dorsolateral carinae. Vesica in all but one species with numerous small denticulate
cornuti only. Female genitalia. Tergite 7 with or without a row of long setae near anterior margin of tergite 8.
Tergite 8 often with two patches of setae and scales, sometimes with setae only. Anal papillae with setae.
Vestibulum in most species with ring-shaped vaginal sclerite and denticulate pouch. Corpus bursae with numerous
pectinations, or pectinations concentrated posteriorly near vestibulum. Reticulate signa present, of variable form
and often dissimilar. Margin of signa narrower than individual cells. Ductus spermathecae spiraled, with variable number
of convolutions. Larva. Yellow, white, green or grey, feeds venter upwards. Probably all species have four larval instars.
Many species have 12 sclerotised ventral plates during second and third instar, being shed in the final instar, independently
from moult. In some species similar dorsal plates occur in addition.
Larva leaf-miner, or petiole-miner. Western Palaearctic species mine on Fagaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae and to a
lesser extent on Betulaceae, Ulmaceae and Anacardiaceae. In addition species from other regions are recorded from
Nyssaceae, Platanaceae, Juglandaceae, Aceraceae, Hippocastanaceae, Ericaceae, Caprifoliaceae and Burseraceae.
The distribution is mainly Holarctic: 42 species are reported here from the West Palaearctic, Wilkinson & Newton (1981)
and Wilkinson (1981) reported 18 North American species, Puplesis (1984a and b) described 9 species from the eastern
USSR and about 25 species occur in a collection of Japanese Nepticulidae. In addition three species are known from
Southern Africa (Scoble, 1978; 1979).
Most European species are univoltine, feeding in late summer or autumn, but al least terebinthivora is bivoltine,
and some others are suspected to be so. Larvae of many species are often gregarious. Larvae overwinter full-fed in
cocoons in the soil, or in the mine in the case of agrimoniae and pupate in spring. Adults emerge in March — July.
Some mediterranean species, on evergreen oaks, feed in the winter and aestivate in their cocoons, or emerge in spring.
Description based on van Nieukerken (1985)