Bucculatrix cuneigera Meyrick 1919

Bucculatrix cuneigera Meyrick (Figs. 28, 29, 44, 44a, 44b, 82, 82a, 83. )
1919. Bucculatrix cuneigera Meyrick, Exot. Microlep. II (Pt. 9) : 288. Type,
Muskoka, Ontario [B.M.].
1920. Bucculatrix errans Braun, Ent. News XXXI : 77, 78. Type $ , Cincin-
nati, Ohio [A.F.B.Coll.]. 1927. Bucculatrix cuneigera Braun, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. LIII : 195.
Head white, tuft either entirely white or more or less mixed with dark brown centrally ; antennal eye-cap white, stalk pale ocherous to fuscous. Thorax, including tegulae, usually pure white, tegulae dark brown in those specimens in which the base of the wing below the fold is dark brown. Fore wings dark brown or almost black with white marks; from base of wing and just within the costal margin, an outwardly broadening white streak, its costal edge close to costa, its outer margin oblique, extends in the disc nearly to middle of wing ; base of wing below fold usually white, the white area sometimes expanding, spreading outwardly and costad, or base of wing below fold sometimes wholly dark brown ; at middle of costa, an oblique, triangular or outwardly curvingwhite spot ; basad of it, on dorsum, a larger half-crescent shaped mark ; a narrow oblique costal streak at two-thirds, and opposite it at tornus, a pair of white spots narrowly separated by ground color, the outer of which is directed inwardly ; a triangular white spot near apex and mostly in the costal cilia, bordered outwardly by an oblique dark line running to the tip of the apical cilia; a few black scales at apex form an irregular apical dot ; cilia opposite apex ocherous, shading to fuscous at tornus ; a line of dark-tipped scales through the middle of the cilia from apex to tornus. Hind wings dark brownish or blackish gray, cilia concolorous. Legs, except tarsal segments, dark brown outwardly. Abdomen dark fuscous, anal tuft pale.
Alar expanse 9 to 10.5 mm. Male genitalia (figs. 82, 82a). Harpes with heavy conical setae at apex; socii with some short, some longer setae; subscaphium strongly sclerotized ; aedeagus slender, entrance of penis elongate ; vinculum narrow, emarginate. Scales of scale sac elongate (fig. 82a).
Female genitalia (fig. 83). Ostium unspecialized, ductus bursae forked in segment 7 at inception of ductus seminalis, the forks uniting again just before entering bursa copulatrix; signum ring wide ventrally, narrow dorsallv.
Specimens examined. — 31 8 , 21 9.
Ontario: Muskoka, 1 9. July, 1918 (ex type series of cuneigcra) [A.F.B. Coll.] ; Ottawa, 2 8,2 9. July 3 to July 10 (C. H. Young) [C.N.Coll.] ; Bobcaygeon, 1 5, 29.VI.31 (J. McDunnough) [C.N.Coll.].
Ohio: Cincinnati, 1 8 (type of errans Braun), 10 $ , 7 9 (paratypes of errans Braun), May 12 to May 28, rearing record B.977; 2 8,2 9, June 5, 1918 (A. F. Braun) [A.F.B. Coll.] ; 2 8 (paratypes of errans Braun), May 26, May 27, rearing record B.977 (A. F. Braun) [U.S.N.M.] ; 2 9 (paratypes of errans). May 28, rearing record B.977 (A. F. Braun) [A.N.S.P.].
North Carolina: Balsam, 1 8 (worn), July 23,, 1911 [A.F.B. Coll.] ; Highlands, Macon County. 3865 feet, 6 8 , 5 9, June 24 to July 11, 1959, collected as part of a project sponsored by the American Philosophical Society (R. W. Hodges) [Cornell U.].
New York: E. Aurora, 1 9, July 3 (W. Wild) [Cornell U.].
Massachusetts: Barnstable, 1 8, July 11, 3 9, June 26 to July 2 [C. P. Kimball Coll.].
Maine: Augusta, 1 9 (only head, thorax and one fore wing), July 24, 1947 [A. E. Brower Coll.].
New Brunswick: St. Andrews, 1 8, 4.VII.1936 (T. N. Freeman) [C.N. Coll.].
Nova Scotia: Parrsborough, 1 8, 4.VII.1914; Smith's Cove, 3 8, 1 9, 19.VII.1945; White Pt. Bch., Queens Co., 1 8, 20.VII.1934; Petite Riviere, 1 8, 1 9. 11. VII and 16.VII.1935; Baddeck, 1 8, 24.VI.1936 (J. McDunnough) [C.N.Coll.]; Annapolis, 1 8, 21.VI.1946 (McD. and Ferguson) [C.N.Coll.].
Prince Edward Island: Prackley Beach Can. Nat. Park, 1 9, 24.VII.1940 (G. S. Walley) [C.N.Coll.].
Quebec: Knowlton, 1 8 , 11.VII.1929 (J. McDunnough), 1 8,1 9, 30. VI, 1.VII.1936 (G. S. Walley) [C.N.Coll.]; D. Golf Club, 1 8, 15.VII.1925 (F. P. Ide) [C.N.Coll.] ; Newago, Lake St. Francis, 1 8 (H. S. Parish) [Cornell U.].
The type series of errans was reared from larvae feeding on Aster shortii Lindl. Although no specimens except this type series have been reared, other species of Aster replace Aster shortii as a food plant in the more northern localities. On Aster shortii, the larva makes a long contorted and sometimes spiral mine, which becomes noticeable on the
leaf in autumn (fig. 44). In early November, in a slight enlargement at the end of the mine, the larva spins a flat circular yellow wintering cocoon (fig. 44a), similar in appearance to the moulting cocoon of other species, but of dense texture, within which it lies curled during the winter. In March of the following year, it leaves this cocoon by a circular opening, and bores into a growing shoot just below the tip, hollowing out the stem, and killing the top of the shoot. It feeds downward, usually eating out the contents of the stem for about an inch; when full-grown it escapes by a circular hole near the lowest part of the burrow. The cocoon ( fig. 44b ) , which is white or pale yellowish, with seven or eight low ridges, is spun on dead stems and twigs lying near the food plant, but apparently never on the food plant. Of the innumerable mines which may be present on a plant, often a half dozen to a single leaf, only some four or five can survive on the few shoots of the plant in the spring.
In cuneigera, the dark markings corresponding to the ocherous or dark-dusted markings of other species of the section have so greatly expanded as to become the apparent ground color, here so considered ; the white marks correspond to the white ground of the other species, here greatly reduced in extent.
The ground color of the specimens from Highlands, North Carolina is dark blackish brown, almost sooty black ; these specimens agree more closely in coloration with the specimen from the type series of cuneigera (cited above).

Bucculatrix cuneigera is a moth in the family Bucculatricidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1919.

The wingspan is 9-10.5 mm. The forewings are dark brown or almost black with white marks. The hindwings are dark brownish or blackish grey. Adults have been recorded on wing from May to July.

The larvae feed on Aster species, including Aster shortii. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine has the form of a long contorted and sometimes spiral mine. The species overwinters within the mine in a flat circular yellow cocoon. After hibernation, the larva bores into a growing shoot just below the tip, hollowing out the stem. Full-grown larvae leave the stem and pupate in a white or pale yellowish cocoon. The cocoon is spun on dead stems and twigs near the host plant.