Spulerina simploniella (Fischer von Röslerstamm, 1840) Species
Last modified: Feb. 27, 2021, 2 p.m.
Only recorded once in the Belgian entomological literature: AN, Postel and Turnhout, August 1861, a large series, leg. L. Becker. It is very strange that neither such a well-marked and easily recognisable species has never been observed again till 2018, nor that it has never been recorded from the Netherlands, while Postel is on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, but a second observation became known in HA in June 2018 after more than 150 years of absence.
Details
- Classification
- Family: Gracillariidae > Subfamily: Acrocercopinae > Genus: Spulerina > Species: Spulerina simploniella
- Vernacular names
- Eikenbaststeltmot (NL), Eichenrinden-Miniermotte (DE)
- First mention in Belgium
- Becker L. 1861. Insectes observés en Campine pendant le mois d'août 1860. — Annales de la Société entomologique belge 5: 33–57. On page 43. view page
- Status
-
Native
Distribution
Imago
Forewings with brown ground colour and pure white pattern consisting of basal field, 1 broad central fascia, two semi-circular patches (one at the costa, the other at the inner margin), and finally 2 thin strigae at the costa just before the apex.
Museum specimens
No pictures yet!Specimens in nature
Mine
The larva lives in a very shallow gallery just under the bark of shoots of several Quercus species, widening at the end into an inconspicuous blotch.
See also gracillariidae.net.
Bionomics
Pupation between leaf litter on the ground.
Flight periods
Adults have only been observed in late June and August in Belgium.
Observed on
- Host plant (species):
- Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens and Castanea sativa
- Host plant (genera):
- Quercus
The larva prefers very fresh shoots of Quercus robur, but lives also on Quercus petraea and Quercus pubescens. It has also been observed, but not (yet) in Belgium, on Castanea sativa.
