''Bedellia orchilella'', the Hawaiian sweet potato leaf miner, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family Bedelliidae. It was first described by Lord Walsingham in 1907. It is endemic to the Hawaiian islands of Kauai,

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

, Molokai, Maui and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. The larvae feed on ''

Ipomoea ''Ipomoea'' () is the largest genus in the plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 600 species. It is a large and diverse group, with common names including morning glory, water convolvulus or water spinach, sweet potato, bindweed, moonfl ...

'' species, including '' I. tuberculata''. They mine the leaves of their host plant. It is considered a pest on sweet potatoes in Hawaii. The mines may cause the yellowing of the leaves, giving them a notched and withered appearance.

External links

* Bedelliidae Leaf miners Endemic moths of Hawaii Moths described in 1907 {{Yponomeutoidea-stub