Pectinivalva brevipalpa

Pectinivalva brevipalpa
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Pectinivalva
Species:	P. brevipalpa
Binomial name
Pectinivalva brevipalpa Hoare, 2013

Pectinivalva brevipalpa is a moth of the Nepticulidae family. It is found in New South Wales.

The wingspan is 4.3–5.9 mm for males and 4.3–5.2 mm for females. Two-thirds of the forewings is dark fuscous with purplish reflections, there is a shining silver to pale golden fascia at 2/3. The apex of the wing is dark fuscous without reflections. The hindwings are grey.^[1]

Mine

The larvae feed on Tristaniopsis collina. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a very long narrow gallery either filled with greenish frass or with black linear frass. It broadens rather abruptly into a gallery with a central line of black frass. The exit-hole is located on the upperside and has the form of a semicircular slit. Pupation takes place in a reddish brown cocoon.

Etymology

The specific name is derived from the Latin brevis (meaning short) and palpus (meaning the sensitive palm of the hand) and refers to the reduced, 2-segmented labial palpi of the adult male.

References

1. Phylogeny and host-plant relationships of the Australian Myrtaceae leafmining moth genus Pectinivalva (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with new subgenera and species