Bedellia somnulentella

Bedellia somnulentella, the sweet potato leaf miner, is a moth in the family Bedelliidae.

Sweet potato leaf miner
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Bedelliidae
Genus:	Bedellia
Species:	B. somnulentella
Binomial name
Bedellia somnulentella (Zeller, 1847)
Synonyms
Lyonetia somnulentella Zeller, 1847 Bedellia orpheella Stainton, 1849 Bedellia convolvulella Fologne, 1860 Bedellia mnesileuca Meyrick, 1928 Bedellia ipomoeae Bradley, 1953 Bedellia staintoniella Clemens, 1860 Bedellia annuligera Meyrick, 1928 Bedellia autoconis Meyrick, 1930

Description

The wingspan is 8–10 mm.

The larvae feed on Calystegia pubescens, Calystegia sepium, Convolvulus althaeoides, Convolvulus arvensis, Convolvulus siculus, Convolvulus tricolour, Ipomoea batatas and Ipomoea purpurea. They mine the leaves of their host plant.

Distribution

Originally from Asia, where its food plants are found, it has reached a nearly cosmopolitan distribution and has been recorded from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, southern Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan, nearly all of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Japan, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.

Bedellia somnulentella, morning-glory leaf miner, size: 4.8 mm

Sweetpotato leaf with leaf miner larvae, webbing, and frass

Sweet potato plant with leaf miner damage

External links

• A Review of the Lyonetiid Moths (Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae): II. The Subfamilies Lyonetiinae and Bedelliinae
• bladmineerders.nl
• UKmoths
• Media related to Bedellia somnulentella at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Bedellia somnulentella at Wikispecies