''Chrysoesthia sexguttella'', common name the orache
leafminer moth, is a
moth in the family
Gelechiidae. It is found in all of
Europe, east to southern
Siberia, as well as the north-eastern parts of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, where it might be an
introduced species.
The
wingspan is 8–10 mm. The head is metallic brassy-grey. Forewings are dark purplish-grey, mixed with black, with some whitish scales ; a yellow subdorsal spot in the middle, and a smaller one in disc posteriorly; an ill-defined ochreous-white tornal spot, and another on costa at 3/4. Hindwings are grey. The larva is yellow-whitish; dorsal line brownish; lateral line of orange -reddish spots; head pale brown; plate of 2 blackish.
Adults are on the wing from May to June, and again from August to September. There are two generations per year.
The larvae mine the leaves of ''
Atriplex
''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''.
The genus is quite variable and w ...
'' species (including ''
Atriplex cakotheca'', ''
Atriplex hastata'', ''
Atriplex hortensis
''Atriplex hortensis'', known as garden orache, red orache or simply orache (; also spelled orach), mountain spinach, French spinach, or arrach, is a species of plant in the amaranth family used as a leaf vegetable that was common before spinac ...
'', ''
Atriplex littoralis
''Atriplex littoralis'', the grassleaf orache or grass-leaved orache (; also spelled orach) is a species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to ...
'', ''
Atriplex prostrata'', ''
Atriplex nitens'', ''
Atriplex patula
''Atriplex patula'' (spear saltbush; common orache; spear orach; spreading orach; ) is a ruderal, circumboreal species of annual herbaceous plant in the genus '' Atriplex'' naturalized in many temperate regions.
Description
''Atriplex patula'' ...
'' and ''
Atriplex sibirica''), ''
Chenopodium'' species (including ''
Chenopodium album'', ''
Chenopodium bonus-henricus'', ''
Chenopodium giganteum
''Chenopodium giganteum'', also known as tree spinach, is an annual, upright many-branched shrub with a stem diameter of up to 5 cm at the base, that can grow to a height of up to 3 m.Zhu, Gelin & Mosyakin, Sergei & E. Clemants, Steven. (200 ...
'', ''
Chenopodium glaucum
''Oxybasis glauca'' (syn. ''Chenopodium glaucum''), common name oak-leaved goosefoot, is a species of goosefoot plant native to Europe. It has been introduced and become an invasive weed in North America. This invader of European origin also appe ...
'', ''
Chenopodium hybridum'', ''
Chenopodium murale'', ''
Chenopodium opulifolium
''Chenopodium opulifolium'', the seaport goosefoot, is a species of annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It ...
'', ''
Chenopodium polyspermum'', ''
Chenopodium quinoa'', ''
Chenopodium urbicum
''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older cl ...
'' and ''
Chenopodium vulvaria''), ''
Amaranthus blitum'', ''
Amaranthus caudatus'', ''
Bassia scoparia'' and ''
Spinacia''. They form a contorted gallery on the surface of the leaves.
Parasitoids
''
Pnigalio gyamiensis'' is a larval-pupal ectoparasitoid of ''Chrysoesthia sexguttella''. The female of ''P. gyamiensis'' lays a single egg on the skin of the host larva or nearby it, without any significant preference for a particular variant. The presence of long hairs on its body provides the newly hatched first larval instar with high mobility.
The preimaginal stages of Pnigalio gyamiensis Myartseva & Kurashev, 1990 (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), a parasitoid associated with Chrysoesthia sexguttella (Thunberg) (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae)
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Life cycle
Image:Chrysoesthia sexguttella 6996.8.10.09.3mm.w.wiki.jpg, Larva
File:Chrysoesthia sexguttella larva.jpg, Older larva
File:Chrysoesthia sexguttella pupae.jpg, Pupa with and without cocoon
References
External links
UKmothsBug GuideLepiforum.de: images of ''C.sexguttella''
Moths described in 1794
Chrysoesthia
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Moths of North America
{{Apatetrinae-stub