Pectinivalva quintiniae

Pectinivalva quintiniae
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nepticulidae
Genus: Pectinivalva
Species: P. quintiniae
Binomial name
Pectinivalva quintiniae
Hoare & Van Nieukerken, 2013

Pectinivalva quintiniae is a moth of the Nepticulidae family. It is found in northern New South Wales (Border Ranges National Park) and southern Queensland (Lamington National Park).

The wingspan is 4.7–4.8 mm for males and 5.0–5.8 mm for females. The thorax, tegulae and forewings are uniform shining fuscous with strong blue to violet reflections. The hindwings are grey.[1]

The larvae feed on Quintinia verdonii. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a long, meandering gallery, with central line of blackish frass taking up most of mine width except near the end where the gallery broadens and the frass takes up only half of the width. The exit-hole is located on the underside and has the form of a semicircular to oval hole. Pupation takes place in a reddish brown cocoon.

Etymology

The specific name is derived from the hostplant genus.

Gallery

References

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