Heliozelidae

Pohl, Greg, Anweiler, Gary, Schmidt, Christian & Kondla, Norbert, 2010, An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada, ZooKeys 38 (38), pp. 1-549 : 51

6. Heliozelidae – shield bearer moths

Minute (4–10 mm wingspan) day-flying moths, with a scaled proboscis and metallic scales on the body and wings. Females have piercing ovipositors. Th ey resemble several other families of small moths, but can be distinguished by wing vein characters. Larvae of most species mine the leaves of trees, shrubs, and vines; a few are stem or petiole miners. When mature, the larvae cut a disk from the host plant in which to pupate; hence the common name.

Approximately 100 species of heliozelids are known worldwide; many remain undescribed, especially in the tropics. Thirty species are known from North America; one of these was recently discovered in AB. The group is poorly known taxonomically in North America; the only modern reference is Lafontaine (1973), which covers three species.

13 * U Antispila aurirubra Braun, 1915 T: Braun (1915)

L: None C:?JJDC,?POHL

L May – L Jun – B g