A Biological Study of a New Leaf Miner on Birch, Nepticula lindquisti Freeman (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae), in Ontario

Abstract

A new leaf-mining nepticulid was discovered in Ontario in 1957 during a study of leaf-mining sawflies on birch in the province (Lindquist, 1959). Severe browning of white birch foliage in the Bruce Peninsula in 1958 precipitated an investigation on the identity, biology, and distribution of the species. Adults obtained in the spring of 1959 were tentatively identified as Nepticula sp. by T. N. Freeman, Entomology Research Institute, Ottawa. An introductory note on the life history of the species was published in 1960 (Lindquist, 1960) and distribution data have been recorded since 1958 in the Annual Report of the Forest Insect and Disease Survey of Canada. Freeman (1962) described the adult stage and assigned the name Nepticula lindquisti to this species.