Stigmella obliquella

Stigmella obliquella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae which feeds on willow (Salix species) and can be found in Asia and Europe. It was first described by Hermann von Heinemann in 1862.

Stigmella obliquella
Genitalia preparations of Stigmella species are essential for certain determination
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nepticulidae
Genus:	Stigmella
Species:	S. obliquella
Binomial name
Stigmella obliquella (Heinemann, 1862)
Synonyms
List Nepticula obliquella Heinemann, 1862 Nepticula babylonicae Hartig, 1949 Nepticula diversa Glitz, 1872 Nepticula wockeella Heinemann, 1871

Description

The wingspan is 4.6–6 mm.A small, dark moth. The head is covered with yellow, hair-like scales, the enlarged first antennae joint and the collar are white. The body and forewing are blackish-brown, the forewing has a cream-coloured transverse band in the middle that is narrower in the middle. The hind wing is grey. The larva is yellow. Meyrick - The head is orange, the collar yellow-white. Antennal eyecaps yellow-white. Forewings are coarse, dark brown basal to the yellowish cross fascia, apex black. Hindwings grey.^{[1] [2][3][4]} The morphology of the genitalia must be examined for certain determination.

Adults are on wing from April to May and again in August.

Life cycle

Eggs

Laid on either side of a leaf of one of the smooth-leaved willows in May–June or August–September.^[5]

Larva

The larva is amber-yellow with a brown head and has a faint chain of pear-shaped dark ventral spots.^[6]

The larvae feed on Salix alba, S. babylonica, Salix x sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma', Salix x fragilis, S. pentandra, S. triandra and S. viminalis.^[7]

Stigmella obliquella mine

Pupa

Pupation takes place outside of the mine.

Distribution

It is found in all of Europe (except the Balkan Peninsula), east to eastern Russia and China.