Moths of North Carolina

Scientific Name:	Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

View PDF	Nepticulidae Members:	Ectoedemia Members:	3 NC Records
Ectoedemia quadrinotata (Braun, 1917) - No Common Name

view caption

Taxonomy

Superfamily: Nepticuloidea	Family: Nepticulidae	P3 Number: 16a0087	MONA Number: 51.00
Comments: This genus includes 15 Nearctic species of very small, leaf-mining moths.
Species Status: Ectoedemia quadrinotata is a member of the rubifoliella group of Wilkinson and Noble (1981) that includes two other species, E. rubifoliella and E. ulmella.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:	Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD	Technical Description, Adults: Braun, 1917; Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979.	Technical Description, Immature Stages: Braun, 1917.
Adult Markings: The following description of the adults is based on Braun (1917) and Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). The head and tufts are dark brown, and the palps are gray-brown with a gray luster. The eye-cap is silvery white and the antenna is dark grayish brown and paler at the tip. The collar is grayish brown. The thorax, abdomen, and forewings are dark brown to grayish brown, and the forewing has four silvery white marks. These consists of an elongate spot at the base of the dorsum, a small spot on the costa before the middle, a larger triangular spot at the tornus, and a similar spot on the costa nearer the apex. The cilia vary from brown to gray, with silvery tips around the apex. The hindwings and cilia are brown, and the legs are gray with buff patches. This species somewhat resembles E. trinotata, but has four silvery white marks on the forewing instead of three, including two antemedial spots in E. quadrinotata versus only one in E. trinotata. These species also differ in host plants and genitalia.
Wingspan: 4.0-5.2 mm for males; 4.0-5.0 mm for females (Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979)
Adult Structural Features: The following description of the genitalia is from Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). Males: The tegumen is bluntly extended into a short tuberculate pseuduncus, and the saccus is weakly bilobed. The gnathos comprises a pair of stout lateral horns that are fused at the bases to form a very thick, short projection. The valves reach beyond the pseuduncus, and are curved apically and taper to blunt points. The transtilla has lateral bars that extend into long projections anteriorly. The aedeagus is long, and slightly narrows anteriorly. It has a crown of thorn-like spines that are surrounded by longer spines and processes, and that comprise the anellar projections. Females: The anal papillae are elongate, and the ductus bursae extends beyond the apophyses, with the colliculum lacking the associated denticulate pocket. The bursa copulatrix is covered with pectinations, and the signa is elongate. The anterior apophyses are broad, arcuate, and fused to form a basal bar. The posterior apophyses are sinuous, broadened basally, and appear to arise from the basal plate. The males of E. quadrinotata can be readily distinguished from other members of Ectoedemia by their tuberculate pseuduncus and the elaborate anellar processes. The female genitalia resemble those of E. rubifoliella, E. ulmella and E. nyssaefoliella but differ by having a weakly sclerotized colliculum. The long anal papillae of the female differentiate this species from all other Ectoedemia (Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are very pale green with a brighter green line of ingested food. Braun (1917) noted that the mine begins as a very fine linear track for the first four centimeters or so, and usually closely follows the midrib or one of the lateral veins. It may double back for a short distance before expanding into an irregular brownish blotch which often occupies the entire space between lateral veins. The blotch often obliterates the earlier linear track. The frass is dark, and initially appears as a broken line in the linear track. It becoming less compact and more diffuse as the blotch expands. The mature larvae eventually exits the mine and spins a brownish cocoon that often has an olive green tint (Braun, 1917). Eiseman (2019) observed mines that widened towards the end, but hardly qualified as forming a blotch.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.

Distribution in North Carolina


Distribution: Ectoedemia quadrinotata occurs in Canada from Manitoba eastward to New Brunswick. In the US it has been observed from Ohio eastward to Massachusetts, and southward to Arkansas and North Carolina. As of 2020, we have records from both the Piedmont and at high elevations in the mountains.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.


Flight Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge
Immature Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: Local populations appear to be bivoltine. The adults first appear in April and May, and active mines first appear in July. A second brood is produced from late August to the middle of October (Braun, 1917).

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Populations are found in a variety of habitats that support the host species. Examples include streambanks and floodplain forests, rich circumneutral forested slopes, and forest edges and openings.

Larval Host Plants: The larvae feed on members of the Betulaceae, including Ironwood or American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), American Hazelnut (Corylus americana), American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), and Sweet Birch (B. lenta) (Eiseman, 2022). As of 2024, we have records for American Hornbeam and American Hazelnut. - View

Observation Methods: The adults are rarely attracted to lights and most records are for adults that were reared from leaf mines. We recommend searching for occupied leaf mines on the undersides of Corylus, Carpinus, and Ostrya during the summer months.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Corylaceous Thickets and Understories

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S1S3

State Protection:

Comments: We currently do not have sufficient data on the distribution and abundance of this species within the state to assess its conservation status.

Photo Gallery for Ectoedemia quadrinotata - No common name		Photos: 6
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2018-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: An unoccupied widening linear mine on Corylus americana with a well-defined frass trail. The track tends to repeatedly doubled back on itself to produce an elongated blotch of sorts.	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2018-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: An unoccupied widening linear mine on Corylus americana with a well-defined frass trail. The track tends to repeatedly doubled back on itself to produce an elongated blotch of sorts.
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2018-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: An unoccupied widening linear mine on Corylus americana with a well-defined frass trail. The track tends to repeatedly doubled back on itself to produce an elongated blotch of sorts.	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2017-07-10 Durham Co. Comment: An occupied linear widening mine on Corylus americana that doubles back on itself. Note the well defined frass trail that tends to become more diffuse near the end of the mine.
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2017-07-10 Durham Co. Comment: A view of the underside of a leaf of Corylus americana with an occupied linear widening mine that doubles back on itself (see companion photo of the upper surface).	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2017-07-10 Durham Co. Comment:

Ectoedemia quadrinotata (Braun, 1917) - No Common Name

Photo Gallery for Ectoedemia quadrinotata - No common name

Photos: 6