Cremastobombycia lantanella
| Cremastobombycia lantanella | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Gracillariidae |
| Genus: | Cremastobombycia |
| Species: | C. lantanella |
| Binomial name | |
| Cremastobombycia lantanella Busck, 1910 | |
The lantana leaf miner (Cremastobombycia lantanella) is a moth of the Gracillariidae family. It is native to the southern United States (including Texas) and Mexico. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1902 to aid in the control of Lantana plants.
The wingspan is about 7 mm. Adults are very light brown with whitish bars on the fore wings.
The larvae feed on Lantana species, including Lantana urticoides, Lantana urticifolia, Lantana hispida, Lantana hirsuta and Lantana camara. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of a large bulged or inflated mine on the leaf, equally visible on both sides of the leaf. There may be as many as twenty larvae per leaf. The larvae are pale green.
Pupation takes place in a white, spindle-shaped ribbed cocoon of about 5 mm long which is suspended in the mine by a silken thread attached at each end.