Moths of North Carolina
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Acrocercops Members:
20 NC Records

Acrocercops astericola (Frey & Boll, 1873) - Aster Tentiform Blotchminer

Acrocercops astericola
view caption 		Acrocercops astericola
view caption 		Acrocercops astericola
view caption 		Acrocercops astericola
view caption
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gracillarioidea Family: GracillariidaeSubfamily: GracillariinaeTribe: [Gracillariini]P3 Number: 33a0408 MONA Number: 692.00
Comments: The genus Acrocercops includes six recognized species in North America. Four of these are misapplied, including Acrocercops astericola, but the correct genus to assign them to has not been determined. The genus name is sometimes placed in quotation marks (“Acrocercops” astericola) to indicate the misapplied name. The adults of most species are rather boldly marked, and the larvae are leaf miners that produce linear blotch mines (Pohl and Nanz, 2023).
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Immature Stages: Eiseman, 2019                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is based in part on Forbes (1923). The head and thorax vary from white to light tan, and the palps are whitish, with a dark blotch often evident near the middle. The eyes are reddish. The antenna is white with dark annulations, and about as long as the forewing. The ground color of the forewing is luteous with heavy brown dusting. The forewing has a series of either paired white blotches and streaks, or complete fascias, all with blackish anterior margins. These typically include a pair of small costal and dorsal blotches just before the mid-point of the wing, a complete or nearly complete fascia just beyond the mid-point that terminates just before the inner margin, and two thinner and smaller fascias (sometimes incomplete) just before the wing tip. At the apex there is a white spot with a dark anterior margin. The fringe has two dark bars that parallel the base of the fringe. The legs are light tan with darker bands and blotches. The upper portions of the front and middle legs are heavily marked with black, while the lower tarsi are whitish with small black blotches near the joints. Adults often posture with the front of the body strongly elevated above the substrate. Leucospilapteryx venustella is superficially similar to Acrocercops astericola, but the latter lacks a well-defined white streak that extends along the inner margin from the base to near the first dorsal blotch.
Wingspan: 9 mm (Forbes, 1923).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae mine the leaves of asters. The hatchling initially produces a rather long, convoluted, linear greenish to yellowish epidermal mine on the underside of the leaf (visible from above). This then expands abruptly into a large blotch that has scattered frass. The blotch is often yellowish and later becomes patchily full-depth and often puffy (Eiseman, 2019). The mature larvae are bright red and pupation occurs externally within an elongated cocoon.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Acrocercops astericola is widely distributed in North America. Most records are from eastern North America, including southern Canada (Ontario; Quebec) and much of the eastern US, but populations also occur in western Canada (British Columbia; Alberta) and Colorado. In the eastern US, the range extends from the northeastern states to as far south as northern Florida, and as far west as Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Texas. As of 2021, our records are from the eastern Piedmont and the mid- to higher elevations in the Blue Ridge.
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)

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