Seq # 185410030

Phyllocnistis saligna (Zeller, 1839) Species

Last modified: May 6, 2024, 2:13 p.m.


A rather common species in Belgium. Earlier, it was only known from BR, but since 2012 the species seems to have spread all over the country, and sometimes the mines are really common.


Details

Classification
Family: Gracillariidae > Subfamily: Phyllocnistinae > Genus: Phyllocnistis > Species: Phyllocnistis saligna
Vernacular names
Wilgenslakkenspoormot (NL), Willow bent-wing (EN)
First mention in Belgium
Fologne E. 1859b. Supplément au catalogue des lépidoptères de Belgique. — Annales de la Société entomologique belge 3: 133–142. On page 140 (as Phyllocnistis saligna. Zell.). view page
Status

Native


Distribution


Imago

Head white; forewing ground colour white, a white basal streak edged at both sides with dark brown scales; the inner space between these lines can be filled with light or dark brown scales; four costal streaks of which the second is prolonged till the dorsum; dorsal half of apical area ochreous; a conspicuous black spot in the apical area from which two hooks depart into the cilia forming a horizontal "V", plus an inconspicuous third hook pointing downwards.

Museum specimens

No pictures yet!

Specimens in nature


Caterpillar

Whitish green.

No pictures yet!

Mine

A long, narrow winding, translucent corridor on either side of a leaf. Most of the time, young leaves at the end of a branch are preferred. The caterpillar can move to different leaves via the leaf stem. Frass in a sometimes inconspicuous, and often interrupted, central line.
See also gracillariidae.net and bladmineerders.be.


Cocoon/pupa

Not a real cocoon, but a flimsy spinning.

No pictures yet!

Bionomics

The eggs are oviposited on either side of a leaf.
Pupation in a flimsy membrane at the end of the mine under a fold of the leaf margin.
The adults are active at dusk. The species hibernates in the adult stage, the adults hide in thatch or hayricks.

No pictures yet!

Flight periods

The adults fly in two generations a year in July and again from August till April of the next year.


Observed on

Host plant (species):
Salix fragilis and Salix alba
Host plant (genera):
Salix and Populus

The species lives mainly on Salix alba, but it has been recorded from several other Salix species with narrow leaves.

No pictures yet!