Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGracillariidae Members:
Phyllonorycter Members:
6 NC Records

Phyllonorycter mariaeella (Chambers, 1875) - No Common Name

Phyllonorycter mariaeellaPhyllonorycter mariaeellaPhyllonorycter mariaeellaPhyllonorycter mariaeella
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gracillarioidea		 Family:
Gracillariidae		Subfamily:
Lithocolletinae		P3 Number:
33a0336		 MONA Number:
769.00		 MONA Synonym:
Phyllonorycter affinis
Comments: Eiseman and Davis (2020) treated a closely related form, Phyllonorycter affinis, as a junior synonym of P. mariaeella.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Braun (1908); Eiseman and Davis (2020).Technical Description, Immature Stages: Eiseman and Davis (2020)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is primarily based on Braun's (1908) description of this species. The ground color of the head, head tuft, thorax, and forewings varies from reddish saffron to golden brown. The antenna is whitish with dark annulations above. There are two conspicuous white fasciae on the forewing, one at the basal fourth, and the other at the middle of the wing length. Both are bowed slightly outward and margined with dark brown on the anterior side. At the beginning of the costal cilia there is a white streak that nearly meets an opposing dorsal streak. These are also dark margined on the anterior side. At the apex there is a curved white streak that sometimes extends through the cilia on the dorsal margin. This streak often has a weak dark margin on the anterior side. The apex of the wing is sometimes darkened by a few brown scales, and the cilia are slightly paler than the wing ground color. The hindwing is gray with reddish cilia, and the legs are whitish with black bands.
Wingspan: Expanse 8-8.5 mm (Braun, 1908)
Immatures and Development: The larva forms an underside tentiform mine in which the frass is collected in a loose mass toward one end. The undersurface of the mine is strongly wrinkled, and a section of the leaf is often curled to produce the tentiform mine. Feeding typically results in the upper leaf surface becoming speckled with small green and white blotches. The larva pupates inside the mine in a flat, oblong, translucent white cocoon. The pupa may be thrust through either the upper or the lower epidermis when the adult emerges (Eiseman and Davis, 2020).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Except for one record from Utah, P. mariaeella in restricted to eastern North America. This species occurs in southern Canada (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec) and adjoining areas of the northeastern US. From there the range extends westward and southward to Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas (Eiseman and Davis, 2020). As of 2020, we have only a few records from the eastern Piedmont and western Coastal Plain.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Phyllonorycter mariaeella
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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