Bedellia somnulentella

Bedellia somnulentella, the sweet potato leaf miner, is a moth in the family Bedelliidae.

Sweet potato leaf miner
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Bedelliidae
Genus: Bedellia
Species:
B. somnulentella
Binomial name
Bedellia somnulentella
(Zeller, 1847)
Synonyms
  • Lyonetia somnulentella Zeller, 1847
  • Bedellia orpheella Stainton, 1849
  • Bedellia convolvulella Fologne, 1860
  • Bedellia mnesileuca Meyrick, 1928
  • Bedellia ipomoeae Bradley, 1953
  • Bedellia staintoniella Clemens, 1860
  • Bedellia annuligera Meyrick, 1928
  • Bedellia autoconis Meyrick, 1930

Description

The wingspan is 8–10 mm.

The larvae feed on Calystegia pubescens, Calystegia sepium, Convolvulus althaeoides, Convolvulus arvensis, Convolvulus siculus, Convolvulus tricolour, Ipomoea batatas and Ipomoea purpurea. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts as a narrow tortuous corridor with a central frass line, that often cuts off part of the leaf. Later, larvae leave the mine and begin to make a series of full depth fleck mines. Pupation takes place outside the leaf. The pupa is attached to a leaf without a cocoon.

Distribution

It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution and has been recorded from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, southern Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan, nearly all of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Japan, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.

Bedellia somnulentella, morning-glory leaf miner, size: 4.8 mm
Sweetpotato leaf with leaf miner larvae, webbing, and frass
Sweet potato plant with leaf miner damage


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