Leucoptera albella

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Leucoptera albella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lyonetiidae
Genus: Leucoptera
Species:
L. albella
Binomial name
Leucoptera albella
(Chambers, 1871)
Synonyms
  • Paraleucoptera albella

Leucoptera albella, the cottonwood leaf miner, is a moth in the family Lyonetiidae. It is known from North America and is probably present throughout the commercial range of cottonwood.

The larvae feed on Populus deltoides.[1] They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a brown, somewhat puffy leaf mine. After the larva finishes feeding, it leaves the mine and seeks out a depressed notch, usually at the midvein of a leaf where it pupates in a white silken cocoon that is overlaid with two transverse bands of silk. Periodic heavy infestations may destroy half the total leaf surface and reduce growth of young cottonwood.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Family Lyonetiidae". Microleps. Retrieved September 29, 2010.