| Phyllonorycter celtisella | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Gracillariidae |
| Genus: | Phyllonorycter |
| Species: | P. celtisella |
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllonorycter celtisella (Chambers, 1871)[1] |
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| Synonyms | |
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Phyllonorycter celtisella is a moth of the Gracillariidae family. It is known from Ontario and the United States (including Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas).[2]
The larvae feed on Celtis species, including Celtis occidentalis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a blotch mine on the upperside of the leaf. The larva, of the cylindrical type in the later stages, enters the leaf on the lower surface, and makes a narrow linear mine, then cuts through the parenchyma to the upper side, where the mine broadens into an elongate blotch, made tent-like by a longitudinal ridge in each epidermis. The larvae eat the entire parenchyma, leaving merely the dark discoloured cuticles of the leaf.