Phyllonorycter tiliacella (Chambers, 1871)

(Figs. 68–70)

L.[ithocolletis] tiliacella Chambers 1871a: 56 . Phyllonorycter tiliacella Chambers)— Davis 1983: 10.

Leaf mine. Chambers (1871a) described the characteristic upper-surface mine of this species (Figs. 68–69) as follows: “Small, circular or ovate, brownish, mottled with whitish; not visible underneath until the lower cuticle dies.” Braun (1908) characterized it as “white, densely speckled with dark brown”, which is in agreement with our observations.

Host. Malvaceae: Tilia americana L.

Distribution. Canada: ON, QC; USA: CT, IL, KY, MA, ME, MI, NH, NY, VT.

Review. Chambers (1871a) reared this species from Tilia americana in Kentucky. Braun (1908) stated that it is common throughout the Atlantic states. Specific records include New York (Forbes 1925), Ontario (Yoshimoto 1977), Maine and New Hampshire (Brower 1984), Illinois (Godfrey et al. 1987), Connecticut (Maier & Davis 1989), Vermont (Grehan et al. 1995), and Quebec (Handfield 1997). CSE has found leaf mines in Massachusetts (Montague, Franklin Co.), and they have been photographed in Michigan (Orchard Lake, Oakland Co.; Megachile 2019).

Comments. Godfrey et al. (1987) listed adult collection dates in Illinois ranging from 6 May to 1 July. Maier & Davis (1989) reared adults from mines collected on 9 July and 15 September and stated that their evidence indicated two generations per year. A leaf mine CSE collected in Quebec on 8 July 2018 yielded an adult three days later (Fig. 70).