Moths of North Carolina

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View PDF	Nepticulidae Members:	Ectoedemia Members:	6 NC Records

Ectoedemia ulmella (Braun, 1912) - No Common Name

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Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Nepticuloidea

Family:
Nepticulidae

P3 Number:
16a0097

MONA Number:
49.00

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 adults is based on Braun (1917) and Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). The palps and eye-caps are creamy white. The antenna is creamy white and broadly banded above with dark brown so that only a narrow line of the pale color appears between the annulations. The tuft of the front of the head is ocherous, and that on the vertex is darker and tinged with red. The collar between the head and thorax is the same color as the vertex. The thorax and abdomen are brownish to grayish brown. The scales on the forewing are creamy white to gray towards the base, but shade to dark brown or purplish brown at their tips. This produces an overall mottled dark brown to purplish brown appearance to the forewing. The middle of the wing has a creamy white oblique fascia. The costal portion reaches the dorsal portion somewhat behind the middle, and is sometimes broken with a few dark-tipped scales. The forewing cilia are creamy white to light gray, and the hindwings is pale gray, with a pale bluish luster. The legs are creamy white. Braun (1917) noted that the creamy white fascia and cilia, together with the pale bases of the forewing scales, help to distinguish this species from closely related forms.

Wingspan: 4.5-5.6 mm for males; 5.0-5.4 mm for females (Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979).

Adult Structural Features: The following description of the genitalia is from Wilkinson and Scoble (1979). Males: The tegumen extends into a blunt papillate pseuduncus. The saccus is large and bilobed, and the gnathos has a narrow papillate medial projection. The valves are narrow and are separated by a long, thin, transverse bar of the transtilla that is rather narrow apically, but develops a lobe basally. The aedeagus gradually broadens anteriorly. The vesica has denticulate cornuti and an arcuate striate thickening. The anellar projections are a pair of medial spines, arising from large basal processes, and a pair of thickened elongate processes laterally. Females: The ductus bursae is rather short and the bursa copulatrix is large with an oval signa. The apophyses are approximately the length of the ductus bursae. The anterior apophyses are broader than the outwardly curving posterior apophyses. In the male, the shape of the valves and their lobed projections distinguish E. ulmella from the other members of the rubifoliella group (Wilkinson and Scoble, 1979). The female genitalia lack a colliculum, and in this respect resemble E. rubifoliella. However, the latter has a shorter alar expanse and a more brightly shining fascia.

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from photos showing hindwings, abdomen, or other specialized views [e.g., frons, palps, antennae, undersides].

Immatures and Development: The pale yellowish-white larvae mine the leaves of elms. The females usually deposit their eggs on the upper surface of the leaf, and often against a vein. The mine begins as a very fine brown frass-filled line (rarely whitish) and does not wind much in its early course. At about half its length it abruptly enlarging to about 1 mm wide. It then continues to increase gradually in width until it slightly exceeds 2 mm. The broad portion of the mine is usually so convoluted and contorted that it is difficult to trace the course of the mine, and it appears as an irregular blotch (Braun, 1917; Eiseman, 2019). Unlike most Ectodemia that produce cocoons externally, Braun (1917) observed that most larvae spin their reddish brown cocoons within the mines, and usually near the center of the blotch. This is especially true of the generation which passes the winter in the cocoon.

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

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Ectoedemia ulmella is broadly distributed in eastern North America. It occurs in southeastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick) and throughout much of the eastern US from Maine and Vermont westward to Ohio, and southward to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. As of 2024, our records are all from the Inner Coastal Plain and eastern Piedmont where Tracy Feldman and others have extensively surveyed for leafminers.

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 have two generations per year. Mature larvae have been found in July and September in Ohio (Braun, 2017). We have records of active mines from July.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Ectoedemia ulmella is a specialist on elms and is found in a variety of habitats that have the host species. These include bottomland forests and moist slopes, dry slopes and rock outcrops, and old fields, forest edges, and other disturbed habitats.

Larval Host Plants: The known hosts include Winged Elm (Ulmus alata), American Elm (U. americana), Slippery Elm (U. rubra), and Rock Elm (U. thomasii). As of 2024, we have records for American Elm, Slippery Elm and Winged Elm. - View

Observation Methods: This species appears to very rarely visit lights and almost all adult records are for reared specimens.

Wikipedia

See also Habitat Account for General Elm Forests

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S2S4

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 ulmella - None

Photos: 13

	Recorded by: Tracy Feldman on 2024-06-21 Chatham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik on 2023-08-14 Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-07-21 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-07-21 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-07-21 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 2019-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: This widening linear mine on Ulmus alata doubles back on itself; note the conspicuous frass trail.
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2019-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: A view of a mine on Ulmus alata from the underside of the leaf.		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2019-07-20 Wake Co. Comment: A larva; note the head capsule.
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2016-10-27 Scotland Co. Comment: A widening linear mine with a conspicuous frass trail on Ulmus rubra.		Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2016-10-27 Scotland Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2016-10-27 Scotland Co. Comment: A widening linear mine with a conspicuous frass trail on Ulmus rubra.