Bucculatrix demaryella

Bucculatrix demaryella
Bucculatrix demaryella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Bucculatricidae
Genus:	Bucculatrix
Species:	B. demaryella
Binomial name
Bucculatrix demaryella (Duponchel, 1840)[1]
Synonyms
Elachista demaryella Duponchel, 1840 Bucculatrix castaneae Klimesch, 1950 Bucculatrix scoticella Herrich-Schäffer, 1855

Bucculatrix demaryella is a moth of the Bucculatricidae family. It is found in most of Europe (except the Iberian Peninsula and parts of the Balkan Peninsula), Russia and Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu).^[2]

Mined and gnawed birch leaf

Larva

The wingspan is 8–9 millimetres (0.31–0.35 in).^[3] Adults are on wing from May to early June in one generation per year.^[4]

The larvae of ssp. demaryella feed on Betula nana, Betula pendula, Betula pubescens and Corylus avellana,^[5] while the larvae of ssp. castaneae feed on Acer species and Castanea sativa. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a short, full depth corridor, often along the midrib or a thick vein. Most of the mine has a thick frass line. The larvae leave the mine and engage in window-feeding. Later, it starts eating holes in the leaf.^[6] Larvae can be found from June to July. Young larvae are pale yellow with a darker head while older larvae are grey green. Pupates takes place in a greyish ochreous cocoon spun amongst debris.

Subspecies

• Bucculatrix demaryella demaryella
• Bucculatrix demaryella castaneae Klimesch, 1950 (Austria, Italy, Switzerland)

References