Moths of North Carolina
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Cameraria Members:
11 NC Records

Cameraria cincinnatiella (Chambers, 1871) - Gregarious Oak Leafminer Moth


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gracillarioidea Family: GracillariidaeSubfamily: LithocolletinaeTribe: [Lithocolletini]P3 Number: 330352.00 MONA Number: 815.00
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 Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Braun, 1908.                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following is primarily based on Chambers' (1871) original description of the species. The face and palpi are silvery white, while the legs are silvery white with brownish spots and bands. The tuft is white centrally and golden on the sides. The antenna is silvery white beneath and golden brown above with narrower white rings. The thorax and forewing ground color is rusty to bright golden. The forewing has a short, white, median basal streak with dark dusting on the posterior side. The anterior margin and sides of the thorax are also often white and may touch or nearly touch the basal streak. There are two conspicuous fasciae at approximately the middle and basal third of the forewing that are white, strongly angulated posteriorly, and with a wide dark margin behind. In North Carolina specimens the first is often broken, with the dorsal fragment displaced more basally relative to the costal fragment. The dark margin (dusting) is largely restricted to the dorsal half of each fascia. On the middle fascia the dusting extends away from the white portion towards the apex. A long, oblique, white dorsal streak also occurs near the base of the dorsal cilia, and has a conspicuous dark posterior margin (dusting) that continues towards the apex. There are one or two smaller white costal marks (often connected) that adjoin the region with dark dusting. The cilia is golden and has a dark brown line.

Traits that are helpful for identifying this species include the dorsal median streak and white marks on the thorax that creates a circular or semicircular pattern, the tuft that is white centrally and golden on the sides, the two conspicuous fasciae on the forewings (the first sometimes interrupted near the middle), and the dark dusting on the middle fascia that extends away from the white portion towards the apex. This is one of numerous Cameraria that feed on oaks, but unlike most species, the larvae are distinctive in feeding gregariously within a single leaf mine.

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: A female normally lays eggs along a leaf vein and the larvae feed communally within a single large blotch mine. As the mine develops, it becomes somewhat puckered and develops a whitish to yellowish brown color that is often interspersed with darker regions. A single mine may contain a few to as many as a dozen larvae, and large mines may nearly cover an entire oak leaf (Braun, 1908; Eiseman, 2019). Larvae in the final seasonal brood overwinter in fallen leaves on the ground. The adults emerge during the spring and females begin laying eggs shortly thereafter. There are two or more broods per year.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Cameraria cincinnatiella occurs through much of the eastern US and adjoining areas in southern Canada. Populations occur from the Great Lakes region and Ontario and Quebec eastward to Connecticut, and south and southwestward to Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Our records for North Carolina as of 2019 are from the Blue Ridge and 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)

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