F-519521 
Figure 41.—Red oak leaves skeletonized by feeding of 
larvae of the oak skeletonizer, Bucculatrix ainsliella. 
Other widely distributed species of Bucculatrix and their hosts are as follows: B. 
packardella Chambers—various oaks and occasionally beech; B. quinquenotella 
Chambers—oaks; B. luteella Chambers—white oak; B. recognita Braun—various 
white oaks, especially bur; and B. coronatella Clemens—sweet birch. 
Family Gracillariidae 
Leafblotch Miners 
The family Gracillariidae, the largest of the leafmining families of Lepidoptera, 
is represented in North America by more than 200 species (380, 9/0). This family 
is currently undergoing revision. The adults are tiny and beautifully arrayed in 
shining scales and plumes, and their more or less lanceolate wings are overlaid with 
glistening scales of silver or burnished gold. While an adult is at rest, the front part 
of the body is raised and the wingtips touch the surface on which it sits. Early 
instars are very flat and usually feed first within mines in the leaves. Later, some 
feed mostly on the leaf tissues from within tentiform mines or they skeletonize the 
leaf from shelters made by folding over parts of leaves. 
The full-grown larvae of most species spin silken cocoons, usually within 
feeding mines or shelters, in which to pupate. Winter 1s spent as larvae, pupae, or 
adults, depending on the species. 
The solitary oak leafminer, Cameraria hamadryadella (Clemens), occurs 
throughout much of the Eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Its hosts 
are various species of oak, especially those in the white oak group. The adult has a 
wingspread of about 6 mm. The forewings are pale with bronze patches, and the 
hindwings are silvery with broad fringes of hairs. Young larvae are tiny, flat, and 
taper toward the rear. Full-grown larvae are cylindrical and about 5 mm long. The 
larvae feed singly, forming irregular blotchlike mines just below the upper leaf 
surface. A single leaf may contain several contiguous mines (fig. 42). Winter is 
spent in the larval stage in leaves on the ground and there are several generations per 
year. Injury to forest trees is of minor importance, but the beauty of shade trees may 
be seriously reduced. 
The gregarious oak leafminer, C. cincinnatiella (Chambers), occurs through- 
out the same range as that of the solitary oak leafminer, and it feeds on the same 
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