Dialectica imperialella

Dialectica imperialella
Dialectica imperialella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Gracillariidae
Genus: Dialectica
Species: D. imperialella
Binomial name
Dialectica imperialella
(Zeller, 1847)[1]
Synonyms
  • Gracilaria imperialella Zeller, 1847
  • Dialectica splendidella (Stainton, 1851)

Dialectica imperialella is a moth of the Gracillariidae family. It is found from Denmark to the Pyrenees, Italy and Romania and from Great Britain to Russia and Ukraine.

Mined leaves of Lathyrus niger (3b, 3b*, 3b**)
Larva

Adults are on wing in May and June in one generation.[2]

The larvae feed on Buglossoides purpurocaerulea, Lithospermum officinale, Pulmonaria angustifolia, Pulmonaria officinalis and Symphytum officinale. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a small, lower-surface spiralling corridor that soon becomes a blotch that overruns the previous corridor. Gradually, the mine becomes deeper, and finally is full depth locally. At the underside the mine is quite larger and membranous. The frass is initially deposited in strings, but later it becomes a network of thin threads. Pupation usually takes place outside of the mine.[3]

References

  1. ^ Fauna Europaea
  2. ^ Lepidoptera of Belgium
  3. ^ bladmineerders.nl
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