The spotted tentiform leafminer (''Phyllonorycter blancardella'') 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

Gracillariidae Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, ''Cameraria ...

. It is known from all of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, east to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and central

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. It is also known throughout

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 ...

including

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. 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 6–9 mm. The ground colour is orange often with a dusky sprinkling of blackish scales. White streaks sometimes join together to form larger markings. Adults emerge in May and again in August in two generations in western Europe. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on '' Malus angustifolia'', ''Malus x astracanica'', ''

Malus baccata ''Malus baccata'' is an Asian species of apple known by the common names Siberian crab apple, Siberian crab, Manchurian crab apple and Chinese crab apple. It is native to much of northern Asia, but is also grown elsewhere as an ornamental tree an ...

'', '' Malus coronaria'', ''

Malus domestica An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

'', ''

Malus floribunda ''Malus floribunda'', common name Japanese flowering crabapple, Japanese crab, purple chokeberry, or showy crabapple, originates from Japan and East Asia. It may be a hybrid (biology)#In plants, hybrid of ''M. toringo'' with ''M. baccata'', in w ...

'', ''

Malus fusca ''Malus fusca'', with the common names Oregon crabapple and Pacific crabapple, is a species of crabapple native to western North America. Description ''Malus fusca'' is a deciduous tree growing up to tall, with a trunk thick. The leaves are lo ...

'', '' Malus ringo'', ''Malus x robusta'' and ''

Malus sylvestris ''Malus sylvestris'', the European crab apple, is a species of the genus ''Malus'', native to Europe. Its scientific name means "forest apple" and the truly wild tree has thorns. Description Wild apple has an expanded crown and often appears mor ...

''. 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 has the form of a lower surface tentiform mine. The epidermis is yellow-green and has some folds. Pupation takes place within the mine. The pupa is amber or chestnut brown, and is made within a white cocoon.

Control

The spotted tentiform leafminer is a serious pest of various apple species (''

Malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...

''), along with the apple blotch leafminer moth ('' Phyllonorycter crataegella'') and others. Infestation may result in reduced crop yield. Both species, like many other pests, show an increasing resistance to

organophosphate In organic chemistry, organophosphates (also known as phosphate esters, or OPEs) are a class of organophosphorus compounds with the general structure , a central phosphate molecule with alkyl or aromatic substituents. They can be considered a ...

and synthetic

pyrethroid A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (''Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium'' and ''Chrysanthemum coccineum, C. coccineum''). Pyrethroids are used as commercial and hou ...

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...

s. Two species of very small wasps, the eulophid '' Sympiesis marylandensis'' and the

braconid The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

'' Pholetesor ornigis'' are parasites of both ''P. blancardella'' and ''P. crataegella''.

Biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

includes reducing the use of broad spectrum insecticides, helping these and other parasitoids to flourish and reduce leaf miner damage. Mulching fallen leaves may also allow fragments to be pulled underground by earthworms.(see also Part 2)
/ref>

References

External links

Fauna EuropaeaUKmoths
blancardella Leaf miners Moths described in 1781 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of North America {{Phyllonorycter-stub