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Nepticulidae

Nepticulidae

15 species in 5 genera are known from Block Island. This family of minute moths includes the smallest species found on Block Island. Most species are monophagous or oligophagous leafminers, most often of woody angiosperms, though other modes of endophytophagy are known; on Block Island, one species is a barkminer. The absence or rarity of many native tree species from the island limits potential local diversity of this group.

Figure 1. Mine of Stigmella rosaefoliella in Rosa multiflora.

Doorenweerd, C., E.J. van Nieukerken, and R.J.B. Hoare, 2016. Phylogeny, classification and divergence times of pygmy leaf-mining moths (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae): the earliest lepidopteran radiation on Angiosperms? Syst. Entomol. 42: 267–287.

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