Seq # 185330380

Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae (Frey, 1856) Species

Last modified: Sept. 6, 2023, 6:03 p.m.


A common species wherever hawthorn is to be found throughout Belgium.


Details

Classification
Family: Gracillariidae > Subfamily: Lithocolletinae > Genus: Phyllonorycter > Species: Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae
Vernacular names
Meidoornvouwmot (NL), Common thorn midget (EN)
First mention in Belgium
De Crombrugghe G. 1898. Note sur quelques Lépidoptères nouveaux pour la faune belge. — Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 42: 34–38. On page 37. view page
Status

Native


Distribution


Imago

Head brown, mixed with white hairs; forewing ground colour brown; white pattern consisting of a basal line, sometimes finely edged with dark brown scales; a patch of whitish scales near the basis at the dorsum; four costal and three dorsal striae; a patch of dark brown scales in the apical area.

Museum specimens

No pictures yet!

Specimens in nature

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Genitalia


Mine

A small, tentiform mine on the underside of a leaf, most of the time at the margin of a leaf lobe; underside yellowish green with some longitudinal folds. Later on the mine becomes much contorted, sometimes even folding the leaf margin over the mine. Visible from the upperside as a brown, long patch. The frass is concentrated in the corner of the mine.
See also gracillariidae.net and bladmineerders.be.


Cocoon/pupa

The caterpillars of the summer generation do not construct a real cocoon, but just some flimsy spinning; those of the autumn generation construct a strong, yellowish brown cocoon. Pupa brown.

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Bionomics

Pupation inside the tough cocoon, within the fallen leaves between leaf litter on the ground. The species hibernated in the pupal stage. After emergence of the adult, the pupal skin protrudes from the mine.

No pictures yet!

Flight periods

The adults fly in two generations a year: May and August–September.


Observed on

Host plant (species):
Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata
Host plant (genera):
Crataegus

The larva lives mainly on Crataegus, but can occasionally be found on other Rosaceae, like: Pyracantha, Cydonia vulgaris and Pyrus communis.