| Caloptilia magnifica | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Gracillariidae |
| Genus: | Caloptilia |
| Species: | C. magnifica |
| Binomial name | |
| Caloptilia magnifica (Stainton, 1867)[1] |
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| Synonyms | |
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Caloptilia magnifica is a moth of the Gracillariidae family. It is known from the southern Alps and former Yugoslavia.
The wingspan is 10.5-11 mm.
The larvae of ssp. magnifica feed on Epimedium alpinum, while ssp. moriokensis feed on Epimedium grandiflorum var. thunbergianum. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a long, lower-surface, strongly branching, epidermal, corridor. Later, deeper layers of tissue are eaten and the mine develops into a tentiform mine with dispersed frass. Older larvae leave the mine and make a marginal roll on another leaf, almost always folded downwards. This leaf is eaten out from the inside. Pupation takes place in a yellowish white cocoon that is made at the margin usually of the same leaf.[2]