Moths of North Carolina
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0 NC Records

Phyllocnistis liriodendronella__magnoliella complex Clemens, 1863 - No Common Name

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Taxonomy
Family: GracillariidaeP3 Number: 0.00 MONA Number: 849.10
Comments: Phyllocnistis liriodendronella and P. magnoliella are the only species of Phyllocnistis in our area that have a longitudinal golden streak from the base to the middle of the forewing. According to Forbes (1923), brown edging occurs along the golden streak in P. liriodendronella, but is absent in P. magnoliella. Forbes also noted that P. liriodendronella is a specialist on the Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), while P. magnoliella specializes on several species of native magnolias (Magnolia). Eiseman (2019) raised specimens from both Liriodendron and Magnolia in Massachusetts and found that the adults of both conformed to Forbes’ description of P. liriodendronella. A colleague of Eiseman also found just one species on Liriodendron and Magnolia. Based on these results, Eiseman (2019) suggested that P. magnoliella will eventually be synonymized with P. liriodendronella. Jim Petranka reared specimens from Liriodendron and Magnolia mines from Madison County that also were indistinguishable and conform to P. liriodendronella as described by Forbes (1923). However, larvae on Magnolia tended to pupate beneath curled leaf edges, while those on Liriodendron tended to pupate in folds of the leaf that were inward from the leaf edge. This behavioral difference suggest the possibility of two species. Until taxonomic issues are resolved, we have arbitrarily decided to treat leaf mines on Liriodendron as being those of P. liriodendronella, and leaf mines on magnolias to be those of P. magnoliella. Adults that were collected at sites that had Liriodendron, but no Magnolia, are also presumed to be P. liriodendronella. In cases where representatives of both host genera were present -- and the specimen possessed a golden streak that was edged with brown -- the specimen was assigned to the Phyllocnistis liriodendronella__magnoliella complex.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
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Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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Habitats and Life History
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Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
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