Moths of North Carolina

Scientific Name:	Common Name:		Family (Alpha): Choose a Family

Home

View PDF	Gracillariidae Members:	Cameraria Members:	22 NC Records

Cameraria obstrictella (Clemens, 1859) - No Common Name

view caption

Taxonomy

Family:
Gracillariidae

P3 Number:
33a0255

MONA Number:
831.00

Comments: Cameraria is a genus of leaf-mining micromoths. Many species are stenophagous and specialize on a small number of closely related host species. There are currently more than 50 described species in North America.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:

Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Technical Description, Adults: Clemens (1859); Braun (1908)

Technical Description, Immature Stages: Clemens (1859); Braun (1908)

Adult Markings: The following is based on the description by Clemens (1859) and Braun (1908). The palps are whitish. The face is white and tinged with reddish orange that deepens towards the vertex. The head tuft, thorax, and ground color of the forewing are all reddish orange, and the antenna is dark gray above. The forewing has silvery markings that are dark margined externally. At about one-third the wing length there is a silvery fascia that is very indistinctly angulated near the costa, and nearer the base on the dorsal margin. Just beyond the middle of the wing length there is a straight perpendicular fascia, and at about three-fourths a pair of opposite silvery streaks. These are often united in the middle of the wing to form a third fascia. The apex has a velvety blackish brown patch, with a few silvery scales immediately before the patch. The cilia are mostly reddish brown, but transition to gray at the tornus. A dark brown line extends through the middle of the cilia. The hindwing and cilia are blackish brown, while the abdomen is blackish brown in the female and gray in the male. The legs are pale brownish gray, with the tarsi whitish, and shaded with gray toward their bases. Braun (1908) noted that C. obstrictella can be distinguished from all other allied eastern species by the black scales which form the apical dusting and do not reach the tornus as in C. guttifinitella. These scales are more freely tipped with black than is usual and form a large black spot or patch rather than a number of small dots as seen in some species.

Wingspan: Expanse 7-8 mm (Braun, 1908)

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Immatures and Development: The larvae produce upperside mines on oaks. According to Braun (1908), the mine is typically a rather broad Y-shaped track that sometimes crossing the midrib. In some cases the mines do not fork. Mines that we have observed in North Carolina are often communal and may reflect the fusion of individual mines with time. Two White Oak leaves that were observed in Buncombe Co. had communal mines with two larvae per leaf. The mines tended to be placed along lateral veins, were often broadly lobed, and the fecal pellets were located centrally near the veins. One communal mine from Madison Co. on a seedling White Oak contained seven larvae and was similar to the Buncombe Co. specimens in having several lobes and frass deposited away from the edges of the mine. Local populations appear to have at least two broods per year, and pupation occurs within the mine. Adults from Madison Co. that were reared from mines collected in the summer did not produce a nidus, while larvae collected in the fall from Buncombe Co. did. Specimens that were observed by Braun (1908) produced a flat, oval, silken-cocoon (nidus) that was spun near the fork of the mine. The fall brood overwinters in the leaves, and the adults emerged the following spring.

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Cameraria obstrictella is a seemingly uncommon species, with only a few scattered records from the eastern US. Specimens have been found in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina, where it appears to reach the southern limit of its range. While almost all of our records as of 2022 come from the Blue Ridge and western Piedmont, two records for this species are from the eastern Piedmont.

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
Immature 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: Adults have been documented from March through August, with a seasonal peak in July. As of 2022, we have larval records from June and again from mid-September through late-October that presumably reflect two different broods.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: The larvae feed on oaks and are associated with mesic to dry hardwood forests with oaks.

Larval Host Plants: Braun (1908) listed the hosts as White Oak (Quercus alba), Chinquapin Oak (Q. muehlenbergii), and Northern Red Oak (Q. rubra). White Oak appears to be the primary host in North Carolina, but we also have records for Overcup Oak (Q. lyrata), Chestnut Oak (Q. montana), and Water Oak (Q. nigra). - View

Observation Methods: The adults have rarely been collected and most records are based on adults that were reared from mines on oaks.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Oak-Hickory Forests

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S2S3]

State Protection:

Comments: This appears to be an uncommon species that has only been documented at a few scattered localities in the eastern US. It was discovered in North Carolina in 2020 and several additional site records have been added since then. More information is needed on its distribution and abundance before we can fully assess its conservation status.

Photo Gallery for Cameraria obstrictella - None

42 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Stephen Dunn on 2024-08-02 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Stephen Dunn on 2024-08-02 Chatham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-03-13 Rutherford Co. Comment: A reared adult from Chestnut Oak; mine on 2022-10-21; adult emerged on 2023-03-13 after overwintering in the refrigerator.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-21 Rutherford Co. Comment: An occupied mine on Chestnut Oak.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-21 Rutherford Co. Comment: A backlit image of an occupied mine on Chestnut Oak.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-19 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-19 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-07 Madison Co. Comment: A reared adult from a White Oak seedling; communal mine with two larvae on June 17, 2022; adult emerged on July 7, 2022.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-07 Madison Co. Comment: A reared adult from a White Oak seedling; communal mine with two larvae on June 17, 2022; adult emerged on July 7, 2022.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-29 Madison Co. Comment: One of two adults that were reared from a communal mine on White Oak; mine on June 9; two adults on June 29.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-29 Madison Co. Comment: An occupied mine with two larvae was on White Oak (see companion photo fo an adult that emerged on July 19, 2022).		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-29 Madison Co. Comment: An occupied mine with two larvae was on White Oak (see companion photo fo an adult that emerged on July 19, 2022).
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-06-17 Madison Co. Comment: A communal mine on a White Oak seedling; two adults emerged on July 7, 2022 (see companion photo).		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-06-17 Madison Co. Comment: A communal mine on a White Oak seedling; two adults emerged on July 7, 2022.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-09 Madison Co. Comment: A communal mine on White Oak; mine on June 9; two adults on June 29 (see companion photo of the adult).		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-09 Madison Co. Comment: A communal mine on White Oak with three larvae; mine on June 9; two adults on June 29 (see companion photo of the adult).
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-06 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-06 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-06 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-03-14 McDowell Co. Comment: Mine with larva collected on Oct 14, 2021 on Chestnut Oak; adult emerged on March 14, 2022 after overwintering in the refrigerator (see companion photo of the mine).
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-14 McDowell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-14 McDowell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, John Petranka, Becky Elkin, and Steve Hall on 2021-09-28 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, John Petranka, Becky Elkin, and Steve Hall on 2021-09-28 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-09-12 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-09-12 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-09-06 McDowell Co. Comment: Occupied mine with three larvae was on a seedling White Oak.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-09-06 McDowell Co. Comment: Occupied mine with three larvae was on a seedling White Oak.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-08-04 Madison Co. Comment: An adult that was reared from a mine on a White Oak seedling. Mine was collected on 12 July; adult emerged on 4 August, 2021.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-15 Madison Co. Comment: An specimen that was reared from a communal mine on a White Oak seedling. The mine was collected on June 27 and the adult emerged on 14 July. (see companion photos on the mine).