Taxonomy, morphology, and biology of Lyonetia prunifolielli (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), a leafminer of apple

Abstract

North American Lyonetia speculella Clemens is reported to be a junior synonym of L. prunifoliella (Hübner) of Europe, thus establishing a holarctic distribution for the species. Larvae are blotch leafminers of apple, Malus domestica (Borkh.), as well as Betula, Ceanothus, Chaenomeles, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Cydonia, Mespilus, Purnus, and Sorbus. The morphology of each life stage of L.. prunifoliella is described and illustrated. L. prunifoliella have 6-8 generations on apple in Jefferson County. West Virginia. Time from egg to asult was 20 d at 22-26°C in the laboratory and was ≈34 d under field conditions in August and September Adult males and females lived for 7.8 ± 4.8 d (range. 3-20 d) and 8.3 ± 4.5 d (range, 4-20 d), respectively, at 21-32°C in the laboratory. Eight females laid 67.5 ± 15.8 egg (range, 15-170).