Phyllonorycter tritaenianella (Chambers, 1871)

Eiseman, Charles S. & Davis, Donald R., 2020, Wrong side of the leaf: assigning some Lithocolletinae species (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) to their proper genera, Zootaxa 4751 (2), pp. 201-237 : 231-232

Phyllonorycter tritaenianella (Chambers, 1871)

( Figs. 71–73 )

L.[ithocolletis] tri-taenianella Chambers 1871b: 110. Phyllonorycter tritaenianella (Chambers) — Davis 1983: 10.

Leaf mine. An upper-surface blotch; initially flat and white, speckled with brown ( Fig. 71 ), later becoming tentiform and causing the leaf to fold over completely ( Fig. 73 ) ( Braun 1908).

Host. Betulaceae : Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch.

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

Review. Chambers (1871b) described this species from an adult caught in Kentucky. Chambers (1873) reported rearing it from an upper-surface mine on Ostrya , and Chambers (1874a) synonymized with this species Lithocolletis consimilella Frey & Boll , which had been described from Massachusetts ( Hagen 1884). Phyllonorycter tritaenianella has since been recorded from New Hampshire ( Brower 1984), Illinois ( Godfrey et al. 1987), Connecticut ( Maier & Davis 1989), Michigan ( Nielsen 1998), Ontario, and Quebec ( Pohl et al. 2018). CSE has reared an adult from a leaf mine collected in New York (Taughannock Falls State Park, Tompkins Co.; Figs. 71–72 ), and mines have been found in Ohio (West Union, Adams Co.; CSE) and New Jersey (Sussex Co.; Rall 2019).

Comments. Maier & Davis (1989) stated that P. tritaenianella has at least two generations per year, listing Connecticut specimens reared from mines collected on 26 July and from 28 September to 19 October. Adults have been caught as early as April in Kentucky ( Chambers 1871b) and Illinois ( Godfrey et al. 1987), but 6 July appears to be the earliest date a larval mine has been documented (in Concord, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, by CSE; Fig. 73 ). Our New York specimen emerged after overwintering in a mine collected on 30 August; thus it appears unlikely that a third generation occurs in northern states.

Figures

FIGURES 71–73. Phyllonorycter tritaenianella. 71: Early leaf mine on Ostrya virginiana (larvae feeding right of center); 72: Reared adult; 73: Mature leaf mine.