''Pectinivalva brevipalpa'' 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
Nepticulidae
Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes (see also Opostegidae, Bucculatricidae, Lyonetiidae). These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, inc ...
. It is found in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
is 4.3–5.9 mm for males and 4.3–5.2 mm for females. Two-thirds of the forewings is dark fuscous with purplish reflections, there is a shining silver to pale golden fascia at 2/3. The apex of the wing is dark fuscous without reflections. The hindwings are grey.
Phylogeny and host-plant relationships of the Australian Myrtaceae leafmining moth genus Pectinivalva (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with new subgenera and species
/ref>
The larvae feed on ''Tristaniopsis collina
''Tristaniopsis collina'', known as hill water gum or hill kanuka, is a tree of eastern Australia.
The natural range of ''T. collina'' is from near Mount Gulaga (36° S) in the south of New South Wales to the border with the state of Queenslan ...
''. They mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a very long narrow gallery either filled with greenish frass
Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter.
Definition and etymology
''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...
or with black linear frass. It broadens rather abruptly into a gallery with a central line of black frass. The exit-hole is located on the upperside and has the form of a semicircular slit. Pupation takes place in a reddish-brown cocoon.
Etymology
The specific name is derived from the Latin ''brevis'' (meaning short) and ''palpus'' (meaning the sensitive palm of the hand) and refers to the reduced, 2-segmented labial palpi of the adult male.
References
Moths described in 2013
Moths of Australia
Nepticulidae
{{Nepticulidae-stub