Eriocraniidae is a
family of
moths restricted to the
Holarctic region, with six extant genera.[2][3] These small, metallic moths are usually day-flying, emerging fairly early in the northern temperate spring. They have a
proboscis with which they drink water or sap. The larvae are
leaf miners on
Fagales, principally the trees birch (Betula) and oak (Quercus), but a few on
Salicales and
Rosales.[4]
Characteristics
Moths in this family are
diurnal, flying in the spring at dawn, and in sunshine, sometimes in swarms around host trees. They sometimes come to
light and also rest on twigs and branches. By tapping branches over a beating tray, they fall and remain motionless. The moths are small with a forewing length of 4–7 mm. Forewings marking are shining pale golden or purple and often mottled. The purple moths can be difficult to tell apart with certainty and may require genitalia examination. The female moth has a piercing
ovipositor and the almost colourless eggs are laid in the
parenchyma of a leaf or in a leaf bud. The white or grey larvae form large blotches in the leaves containing intertwining strands of
frass.
Pupa are
decticous in a tough, silken
cocoon in the soil.[5][6]
Etymology
Eriocrania means woolly-headed, from the
Greek, erion – wool and kranion – upper part of the head.[7][8]
^Sterling, Phil; Parsons, Mark;
Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micro moths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife. p. 48.
ISBN978-0-9564902-1-6.
^Smith, Frank.
"Microlepidoptera (Micro-Moths)". Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders. Retrieved 22 December 2021.