Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« Home »
View PDFGracillariidae Members: Phyllocnistis Members: 81 NC Records

Phyllocnistis vitifoliella Chambers, 1871 - No Common Name

Phyllocnistis vitifoliella
view caption 		Phyllocnistis vitifoliella
view caption 		Phyllocnistis vitifoliellaPhyllocnistis vitifoliella
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gracillarioidea		 Family:
Gracillariidae		Subfamily:
Phyllocnistinae		P3 Number:
33a0383		 MONA Number:
854.00
Comments: Phyllocnistis is a large genus with more than 125 described species worldwide, with 16 species currently recognized in North America. Davis and Wagner (2011) surmised that there may be hundreds of undescribed species in the neotropics. The adults of some species are very similar, and knowledge of the host plant and mine characteristics is helpful in identifying morphologically similar species (Eiseman, 2019).
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Chambers, 1871. Technical Description, Immature Stages: Eiseman, 2019.                                                                                  
Adult Markings: The following is based primarily on Chambers’ (1871) original description. The head, thorax, and antenna are glistening snowy white. The ground color of the forewing is also glistening snowy white, but tinged with light golden towards the apex. Overlaying this are a series of narrow, blackish streaks or lines that are less than half the width of the forewing. Near the middle of the wing is a narrow oblique blackish costal streak. Just behind it is a small straight blackish streak that is slightly oblique and that opposes a similar small dorsal streak. There is a conspicuous circular black spot at the wing tip. Just anterior to this there are two straight black costal streaks. At the tip of the wing are three blackish diverging lines in the cilia that tend to converge towards the apical spot. A blackish marginal line arches forward from the apical spot towards the dorsal margin. There is often a broad area of golden wash that adjoins the marginal line on the anterior side. The hindwing and cilia are silvery white. Chambers (1871) noted that P. vitegenella closely resembles P. vitifoliella, but differs in having antennae that are dark above (whitish in P. vitifoliella), a semi-oval dorsal spot (absent in P. vitifoliella), and the second costal streak that unites with the opposite dorsal streak to form a narrow fascia (these remain separated in P. vitifoliella).
Immatures and Development: The larvae produce elongated, winding mines on the upper surfaces of leaves. A larva initially mines the epidermis, which produces a silvery mine (Eiseman, 2019). It then mines deeper into the inner tissues and produces dark frass. The frass tends to be loosely concentrated near the middle, but can sometimes be diffuse and fill much of the mine. The frass, along with necrotic tissue, tends to turn the entire track darker with age. Pupation occurs in an enlarged chamber at the end of the mine. This species can be easily distinguished from P. vitigenella based on the presence of frass in the mine, and the fact that the pupation chamber of P. vitifoliella is not completed beneath a fold on the leaf margin. Chambers (1871) found numerous overwintering adults beneath the bark of hickories in Kentucky.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Phyllocnistis vitifoliella is primarily found in the eastern US and Quebec, with a disjunct population in California. Population records are somewhat unreliable because of the similarity of this species with other white Phyllocnistis species. As of 2024, we have scattered records that include the Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Phyllocnistis vitifoliellaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.