Subspecies
No subspecies are recognized.
Synonyms
Phyllocnistis extrematrix Martynova, 1955
Identification
The imagines show an interesting case of automimesis. The apical area of
the forewings shows a dark eyespot which is surrounded by dark stripes
that imitate appendages (legs, labial palps and antennae). This "head"
is followed by a green-brown area that looks like the "thoracic shield"
behind this head, and after this "thorax" there is even an indentated
dark line that imitates the proximal rim of the wing base plus the start
of the wing suture. Imagines of the first generation usually have an
entirely silver-white basal and medial wing area, but imagines of the
following generations apparently often show a dark spot in this area at
the posterior wing margin (see
Schulz and Faehnrich 2018).
The larvae are yellow-green and slightly translucent, without any darker markings on the body.
Distribution
Probably widely distributed in Europe and Asia, but formerly confused
with Phyllocnistis unipunctella. In Germany, this species is so far only
known from Bayern (
Haslberger et al. 2017) and Niedersachsen (
Schulz and Faehnrich 2018), but is probably more widespread in Germany.
Biology
Females deposit their eggs on the underside of poplar trees, near broad
leaf veins (usually the primary vein). The larvae mine in the fresh
twigs and leaves of poplar trees (genus Populus); the species has been
reported from Populus balsamifera, Populus trichocarpa and Populus nigra
(
Schulz and Faehnrich 2018); other Populus species or hybrids are also used as food plant. The species has at least two generations in Germany and the first larvae can be found as early as April.
Larvae pupate inside a cocoon, within their mine on the underside of the
leaf and usually near the leaf edge. The first generation of imagines
ecloses in May and June, the second generation ecloses after late July. A
partial third generation with imagines in September and October appears
to exist.