Internal feeder (Lepidoptera: Heliozelidae) in Parthenocissus
| Record no.: | 0729 |
|---|---|
| Feeding guild: | Internal feeder in stem |
| Taxonomy: | Lepidoptera: Heliozelidae: cf. Heliozela sp. |
| Stages observed: | trace, larva |
| Hosts in Parthenocissus: | undetermined P. sp. (woodbine / Virginia creeper) |
I have observed an apparent Heliozela species tunneling in main stems of Parthenocissus in mid-June. Unlike Heliozela near aesella (record 0363), this internal feeder does not appear to cause appreciable swelling of the plant tissue, and its presence is generally not externally visible until the larva reaches maturity and establishes a gaping round or oval hole in the outer wall of the stem, through which it evacuates the plant material while ensconced in a case partly comprised of frass.
In 2025, I found a recently hatched larva on June 11. It tunneled in a rather localized area in the stem, then formed a case around itself and exited the plant material in the rearing container by June 19. Exit holes of other individuals had been formed in the field by June 20. I recorded the following notes in my journal about the sign left by these other individuals:
[Today, June 20,] I located another Parthenocissus individual plant next to the original one [from which I had collected the larva on June 11], and parting the foliage to look at its stem I immediately knew I was looking at the sign I had come here to find. Holes in the stem! Some round some oblong, the oblong ones possibly actually two holes side by side, or maybe these larvae just needed more materials for their cases for some reason. The holes were in both nodes and internodes, and corresponded to tunneled areas inside the stem. ... [P]hotos show one sprig of plant material I gathered that had 3 holes in it. Two of the holes were in internodes, with corresponding internal tunnels in the stem of length 27 and 24 mm; the third hole was in a node and the internal tunnel in the node was only 13 mm long but it was contorted and meandered throughout the node so that the volume tunneled out by the larva was probably comparable (maybe 20% less?) to the volume tunneled out by the internode larvae.
Differences in phenology and plant damage suggested to me that this species is different from Heliozela near aesella.
Page created: March 12, 2026. Last update: none