Moths of North Carolina
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Stigmella Members:
3 NC Records

Stigmella macrocarpae (Freeman, 1967) - No Common Name

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Nepticuloidea Family: NepticulidaeP3 Number: 16a0013 MONA Number: 88.00
Comments: Members of the genus Stigmella are a group of small leaf-mining moths that typically create linear mines, although a few species form linear-blotch or blotch mines. Newton and Wilkinson (1982) recognized 51 species in their revision on the North American fauna, and new discoveries have since raised the total to around 57 species. Almost all species are specialists and rarely use more than one genus of host plants. Host-specificity, mine characteristics, and genitalic differences are helpful in recognizing closely related forms that are externally similar.
Species Status: Stigmella macrocarpae and S. nigriverticella are two closely related species that appear to be members of a species complex that may contain one or more undescribed species. Chambers (1878) originally described a form with a broad fascia near the middle of the forewings as Nepticula latifasciella (= Stigmella latifasciella, and later S. macrocarpae). He also described a second form (Chambers, 1875) with an even broader, less well-defined, and more diffuse band as N. nigriverticella (= S. nigriverticella). North American experts have traditionally treated the narrow-banded form as S. macrocarpae (e.g., Newton and Wilkinson 1982), and most specimens from North Carolina appear to be this form. However, a recent revision of the Nepticulidae (Van Nieukerken et al. 2016) reinterpreted the narrow-banded form as being S. nigriverticella rather than S. macrocarpae. The genitalia appear to be identical for S. macrocarpae and S. nigriverticella (Newton and Wilkinson 1982) and DNA analyzes reveal at least seven major lineages (BINS) within the two recognized species. Both S. macrocarpae and S. nigriverticella; sensu Van Nieukerken et al. 2016) are recognized in the latest North American checklist (Pohl and Nanz, 2023), and we recognize both with the caveat that additional taxonomic changes may occur in the future.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Van Nieukerken et al. (2016).Technical Description, Immature Stages: Eiseman (2022).                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Stigmella macrocarpae is a distinctive species that is mostly creamy to buff-white, with a contrasting dark and relatively narrow sub-basal band on the forewing, along with a relatively wide band on the apical third of the wing. The scale tuft on the face is ocherous to dull-white, while the tuft on the vertex is dark-brown to blackish. The collar, eye-cap, thorax, and extreme base of the forewing are creamy white to buff-white. The remainder of the forewing is dark-brown to blackish, except for a very broad buff-white band near the middle. The white band is usually immaculate or nearly so, but specimens are occasionally found with substantial dark speckling in the band. The cilia along the terminal margin are creamy-white, but often fade to light gray towards the inner margin and costa. Both the hindwing and cilia are light gray. S. nigriverticella resembles S. macrocarpae, but has a relatively narrow white band near the middle of the wing that is about the same width as the blackish sub-basal band that adjoins it. In S. macrocarpae, the central white band is about twice as wide as the sub-basal band.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are leafminers on oaks. Frass is initially deposited in a broad, blackish central line but soon becomes dispersed across the entire width of the mine (Eiseman, 2022). Toward the end of the mine the frass is deposited in a narrower and less diffuse broad band. The larva is bright green, with a pale head that has a black spot on each side. It exits through the lower epidermis and spins a light gray or occasionally ocherous cocoon in leaf litter.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: As currently recognized, S. macrocarpae is found in both western and eastern North America. In the West it occurs in British Columbia, Oregon and California, while in the East it is more broadly distributed in southern Canada (Ontario eastward to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and the eastern U.S. from the New England states southward through the Atlantic Coast states to Florida and westward to Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Indiana and Iowa. There is at least one isolated record from Colorado. As of 2024, all of our records are from a lower-elevation site in the central 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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: Local populations appear to be at least bivoltine (Eiseman, 2022). Adults have been collected from January through October in different areas of the range, with the great majority of records from May through October. Our very limited records as of 2024 are from late-April through mid-May.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Larval Host Plants: The larvae mine the leaves of oaks, including species in both the eastern and western U.S. (Eiseman, 2022). The known hosts including White Oak (Quercus alba), Gambel Oak (Q. gambelii), Oregon White Oak (Q. garryana), California Black Oak (Q. kelloggii), Valley Oak (Q. lobata), Bur Oak (Q. macrocarpa), and Post Oak (Q. stellata). Eiseman (2022) noted that literature records from Scarlet Oak (Q. coccinea), Pin Oak (Q. palustris) and Northern Red Oak (Q. rubra) need confirmation. - View
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR[S2S3]
State Protection:
Comments: This species is currently known from only one site in North Carolina. Much mire information is needed on its distribution and host use before we can accurately assess its conservation status in the state.

 Photo Gallery for Stigmella macrocarpae - No common name

Photos: 5

Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-05-19
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-05-19
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-04-30
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-04-30
Madison Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-05-14
Madison Co.
Comment: