The genus Ectodemia contains a number of species, the larvae of which either 
form galls on leaf petioles or twigs or mine the bark of various trees. Members of 
the genus have only one generation per year. E. populella Busck, the poplar 
petiole gall moth, forms pea-size globular galls on the petioles of poplar leaves. E. 
heinrichi Busck larvae excavate flattened, oval, spiral mines in the bark of young 
branches of pin oak. 
The hard maple budminer, Obrussa ochrefasciella (Chambers), bores into and 
destroys the buds of hard maple. The larvae spend the winter in axillary buds and 
migrate to the main buds in the spring (70/). Heavy outbreaks of O. sericopeza 
(Zeller), an introduced species that mines the seed pods and leaf petioles of Norway 
maple, have been recorded in Maine. Damaged leaves and seed pods drop pre- 
maturely. There are two and perhaps three generations per year. 
Family Incurvariidae 
Incurvariids 
The maple leafcutter, Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch), is the only member of 
this family of economic importance in eastern forests. It occurs in southeastern 
Canada and in the Northeastern States south to Virginia and west to Illinois. Its 
favored host is sugar maple, but the larvae also feed on the leaves of red maple, 
beech, birch, elm, and hophornbeam. The adult has long, narrow, pointed wings 
and a wingspread of 8.5 to 13 mm. The forewings are steel blue and fringed with 
black; the hindwings are pale smoky brown, translucent, and bordered with a pale- 
brown fringe of long scales. There is a dense tuft of bright orange-yellow scales on 
the top of the head, the thorax is steel blue, the legs whitish, and the abdomen dark 
brown. First-stage larvae are flattened, about 1.5 mm long, and they taper from the 
front to the rear. Full-grown larvae are slender, flattened, and usually dull white 
with amber-brown heads and a broad longitudinal stripe. They are about 6 mm 
long. Pupae are light yellowish brown, about 5 to 6 mm long. Abdominal segments 
two to eight bear transverse rows of short, stiff, backward-pointed spines on the 
back. 
In Canada, adults appear in the spring about the time the leaves open, and deposit 
their eggs singly in pockets on the undersides of the leaves. When the larvae hatch, 
they bore into the leaf tissues and feed as miners for about 10 days to 2 weeks. 
Then, each larva cuts a round disk out of the leaf and makes an oval, movable case 
in which it resides as a casebearer. As it grows, it cuts out larger oval pieces and 
attaches them to its case. In order to feed, it attaches the case to a leaf and reaches 
out from it in a circle as far as it can. The uneaten center of this circle often drops 
out, leaving a hole up to 12 mm in diameter in the leaf. When the larvae become 
full grown, they drop to the ground to pupate. Winter is spent in the pupal stage, 
and there is one generation per year (/039). 
The maple leafcutter is often a pest in sugar maple stands, especially in sugar 
maple orchards. The trees may be severely defoliated, often for several years in 
succession. 
Family Heliozelidae 
Shield Bearers 
Shield bearer moths are rather small and have lanceolate wings. The larvae are 
strongly flattened and spend most of their lives mining the leaves of their hosts. 
The tupelo leafminer, Antispila nysaefoliella Clemens, feeds on tupelo through- 
out the eastern part of the United States. The adult is dark brown and has a 
wingspread of 7 to 8 mm. The pale-green larvae feed within leaf tissues, forming 
blotchlike mines. A full-grown larva spins a cocoon within the mine and then cuts 
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