Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Nepticulidae Members:	Ectoedemia Members:	16 NC Records

Ectoedemia rubifoliella (Clemens, 1860) - No Common Name

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Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Nepticuloidea

Family:
Nepticulidae

P3 Number:
16a0096

MONA Number:
48.00

Comments: This genus includes 15 Nearctic species of very small, leaf-mining moths.

Species Status: Wilkinson and Newton (1981) divided the North American Ectoedemia into four species groups based primarily on genitalic differences. The rubifoliella group consists of three species (E. rubifoliella, E. ulmella and E. quadrinotata) that have similar genitalic characteristics.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:

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

Technical Description, Adults: Braun, 1917; Wilkinson and Scoble (1979).

Technical Description, Immature Stages: Braun, 1917

Adult Markings: The following description of the adults is based on Braun (1917) and Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). The palps are whitish and lustrous, and the vertex and the tuft on the front of head are ochreous. The collar between the head and the thorax is off-white to pale ochreous. The eye-cap is shining silvery white, and the antenna is purplish gray. The thorax and forewing are brownish black, with a shining silvery or faintly golden fascia at the middle of the wing. The fascia is convex outwardly and somewhat narrowed in its middle (sometimes almost interrupted). The cilia are whitish, terminally broad and rounded, and heavily irrorate with dark brown scales. The hindwing and cilia are gray, and the legs are silvery gray. Ectoedemia rubifoliella resembles E. virgulae but is generally darker and the fascia is broader. The males lack the chitinous plate of the hindwing that is found on E. virgulae (Wilk and Scoble, 1979). These species also differ in their host plants and the overall shape of the male genitalia.

Wingspan: 4.4 mm for one male and 4.0-4.2 for four females (Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979).

Adult Structural Features: The following description of the genitalia is from Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). Males: The tegumen is rounded and produced into a short pseuduncus. The saccus is weakly bilobed, and the gnathos has a pair of long curved horns that taper only slightly posteriorly and are joined medially. The valves reach the base of the pseuduncus and are broader basally, curve to the tip, and are rather squat. The transtilla have their lateral arms widely separated by a long horizontal bar. The aedeagus has a pair of anellar projections and the cornutus comprising a curved and striate thickening. Females: The anal papillae have a pair of setose lobes. The ductus bursae is less than twice the length of the apophyses. The bursa copulatrix is covered with small pectinations, with two large signa. The anterior apophyses are slightly curved and joined by a long, thin sclerite. The posterior apophyses are long and thin towards the setose lobes.

Ectoedemia rubifoliella is a member of the rubifoliella group of Wilkinson and Newton (1981). Members of this group (E. rubifoliella, E. ulmella and E. quadrinotata) have the pseuduncus prolonged backwards, but bluntly rounded. The aedeagi have moderately large and similar anellar projections in males, and the females lack a thickened or sclerotized collicula. The nature of the pseuduncus, and the relatively short aedeagus, separates the male genitalia of E. rubifoliella from those of E. ulmella and E. quadrinotata, while the females differ only in the relative sizes of the signa.

Immatures and Development: The larva initially forms a very narrow linear mine and deposits frass in a broken central line. The linear mine closely follows a vein or leaf margin before eventually expanding into an elongate or irregular blotch with scattered frass (Braun, 1917; Eiseman, 2019). The pale green larva eventually exits the mine through a slit and spins a dark brown cocoon.

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Ectoedemia rubifoliella in found in eastern North America from southeastern Canada (Ontario; Quebec; Nova Scotia) and Maine, southward to Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. As of 2022, we have scattered records from the Piedmont and lower elevations in the 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
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: Local populations appear to be bivoltine. Braun (1917) found mines with larvae in July and September. As of 2022, we have only three larval records (late June; September and October) that are consistent with the species having two broods per year.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Populations are associated with habitats that support Rubus spp. Examples include forest gaps, woodland margins, roadsides, thickets, abandoned fields, and other open and sunny or partially sunny habitats.

Larval Host Plants: The larvae specialize on blackberries and their relatives (Eiseman, 2019). The known hosts include Common Dewberry (R. flagellaris), Swamp Dewberry (R. hispidus), Black Raspberry (R. occidentalis) and Pennsylvania Blackberry (R. pensilvanicus). In North Carolina, mines have been recorded on Pennsylvania Blackberry. - View

Observation Methods: The adults appear to very rarely visit lights and most records are for adults that were reared from leaf mines.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Forests and Fields

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S3S4

State Protection:

Comments: We currently do not have sufficient data on the distribution and abundance of this species within the state to assess its conservation status.

Photo Gallery for Ectoedemia rubifoliella - None

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

	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2025-10-13 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2025-10-13 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-05 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2024-08-05 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-12-09 Wake Co. Comment: On Pennsylvania Blackberry (Rubus pensilvanicus).		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-12-09 Wake Co. Comment: On Pennsylvania Blackberry (Rubus pensilvanicus).
	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2023-11-07 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2023-11-07 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin and Bo Sullivan on 2023-08-08 Wilkes Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin and Bo Sullivan on 2023-08-08 Wilkes Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-21 Rutherford Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-21 Rutherford Co. Comment: A backlit image on an occupied mine on a blackberry.
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-04 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-10-04 Transylvania Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-09-15 Caldwell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-09-15 Caldwell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-09-15 Caldwell Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-08-25 Clay Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2022-08-25 Clay Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-07-26 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-07-26 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-27 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-27 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-27 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-14 Yancey Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-14 Yancey Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-11 Burke Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-10-11 Burke Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2021-09-26 Mecklenburg Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Ken Kneidel on 2021-09-26 Mecklenburg Co. Comment: