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Eriocraniidae
	Eriocrania semipurpurella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Suborder:	Glossata
Infraorder:	Dacnonypha; Hinton, 1946 sensu Minet, 2002
Superfamily:	Eriocranioidea
Family:	Eriocraniidae; Rebel, 1901
Genera
	Dyseriocrania; Eriocrania; Eriocraniella; Issikiocrania; Neocrania; †Eriocranites Kernbach, 1967
Diversity
	25 described species

Eriocraniidae is a family of moths restricted to the Holarctic region, with six extant genera.^[2]^[3] These small, metallic moths are usually day-flying, emerging fairly early in the northern temperate spring. They have a proboscis with which they drink water or sap. The larvae are leaf miners on Fagales, principally the trees birch (Betula) and oak (Quercus), but a few on Salicales and Rosales.^[4]

Characteristics

Moths in this family are diurnal, flying in the spring at dawn, and in sunshine, sometimes in swarms around host trees. They sometimes come to light and also rest on twigs and branches. By tapping branches over a beating tray, they fall and remain motionless. The moths are small with a forewing length of 4–7 mm. Forewings marking are shining pale golden or purple and often mottled. The purple moths can be difficult to tell apart with certainty and may require genitalia examination. The female moth has a piercing ovipositor and the almost colourless eggs are laid in the parenchyma of a leaf or in a leaf bud. The white or grey larvae form large blotches in the leaves containing intertwining strands of frass. Pupa are decticous in a tough, silken cocoon in the soil.^[5]^[6]

Etymology

Eriocrania means woolly-headed, from the Greek, erion – wool and kranion – upper part of the head.^[7]^[8]

References

^ Joël Minet (2002). "Un nom d'infra-ordre pour les Acanthopteroctetidae (Lepidoptera)" [Proposal of an infraordinal name for the Acanthopteroctetidae (Lepidoptera)]. Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France. 107 (3): 222. doi:10.3406/bsef.2002.16845. S2CID 89221735.
^ Donald R. Davis (1978). "A revision of the North American moths of the superfamily Eriocranioidea with the proposal of a new family, Acanthopteroctetidae (Lepidoptera)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 251 (251): 1–131. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.251. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
^ Hitomi Mizukawa, Toshiya Hirowatari & Satoshi Hashimoto (2004). "Biosystematic study of Issikiocrania japonicella Moriuti (Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae), with description of immature stages". Entomological Science. 7 (4): 389–397. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8298.2004.00088.x. S2CID 85351035.
^ Kristensen, Niels P. (31 December 1998). "5. The Homoneurous Glossata". In Kükenthal, Willy (ed.). Band 4: Arthropoda, 2 Hälfte: Insecta, Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies, Teilband/Part 35, Volume 1: Evolution, Systematics, and Biogeography. Handbuch der Zoologie. De Gruyter. pp. 51–64. doi:10.1515/9783110804744.51. ISBN 978-3-11-015704-8. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
^ Heath, John (1983). Eriocraniidae. In The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 1. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 156–165. ISBN 0-946589-15-1.
^ Sterling, Phil; Parsons, Mark; Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micro moths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-9564902-1-6.
^ Smith, Frank. "Microlepidoptera (Micro-Moths)". Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
^ Emmet, A Maitland (1991). The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera. Their history and meaning. Colchester: Harley Books. p. 42. ISBN 0-946589-35-6.