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Recent Publications
- Two more findings of Bohemannia auriciliella from The Netherlands (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae)
- Trifurcula griseella nov. spec. (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae)
- Nepticula benanderella n. sp. (Lep., Nepticulidae)
- A taxonomic study of the micro-lepidopteran genera Microcalyptris Braun and Fomoria Beirne occurring in the United States of America (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae)
Nepticuloidea
Stigmella aladina Puplesis, 1984
Stigmella aladina
Diagnostic description:Diagnosis. Male resembles dentatae, but can be distinguished easily by the grey-brown anal tufts in contrast to the yellow in dentatae; moreover aladina has a complex of androconiae on forewing-underside in a fish-bone patter enclosing a hairpencil. Females can only be separated from dentatae and omelkoi by genitalia: the plate in accessory sac is characteristic.
Morphology:Description. Male. Forewing length 2.1-2.4 mm (2.29 ± 0.15, n=9), wingspan 4.6-5.7 mm. Head: frontal tuft yellowish orange; collar and scape cream, flagellum brown. Antennae with 30-32 segments (31.38 ± 1.19, n=8). Thorax and forewings brown, with leaden grey to bronze gloss, slightly purple towards tip; underside forewings with a long oval patch of androconial scales arranged obliquely in a fish-bone like pattern of two rows, meeting in midline; in midline a row of lamellar scales. Hindwing upperside grey, along costa first costal bristles normal, brown, a second group silvery white and very much lengthened, forming a hair-pencil, fitting in the groove formed by the fish-bone pattern on forewing underside. Abdomen grey-brown, anal tufts long, dark grey.
Female. Forewing length 2.1-2.6 mm (2.26 ± 0.16, n=10), wingspan 4.7-5.6 mm. Antennae with 23-26 segments (25 ± 1.2, n=4). Underside forewing and hindwing grey, no special scales. Abdomen blunt.
Male genitalia. Capsule length 255-305 µm (276.7 ± 18.5, n=6). Vinculum anteriorly concave. Uncus with widely separated horns, slightly curved at tip. Gnathos with widely separated long posterior processes. Valva length 195-220 µm (206.7 ± 11.4, n=6), with rather long pointed distal process of more than 1/3 valva length, inner margin with prominent lobe. Aedeagus 280-310 µm long (296.7 ± 6.1, n=6), 150-165 µm wide, hardly longer than capsule; vesica with very large cornutus at phallotrema, as long as aedeagal width; further with four different groups of cornuti. Spinose manica present, not very distinct.
Female genitalia. T8 slightly pointed, with 12-22 setae. Bursa present, but flimsy, usually lost during preparation; accessory sac folded, basally with large chitinous plate and a group of blunt, very small spines. Ductus spermathecae long, a long straight part followed by 7-8 distinct convolutions.Associations:Hostplant. Quercus mongolica, in Japan on Q. serrata and Q. acutissima.
Leafmines. Egg on leaf-underside, in single positively identified mine on a vein. In the mixed series with S. dentatae eggs are found on veins or away from them. Mine a long narrow linear gallery with linear black frass throughout, not different from S. dentatae. These mines are also very similar to those of the European S. roborella (Johansson).
Larva. Pale yellow, head pale brown, ganglia invisible. Feeds dorsum upwards.Distribution:Japan: Kyushu, Primorskiy Kray and Heilongjiang.
Life cycle:Life history. Bivoltine, larvae found in July and September, in Japan, Kyushu already in May. Adults fly in July-August, spring generation only known from reared specimens (March-April).
Citation:This taxonomic description is based on Van Nieukerken (2000).