The leaf and stem  mines of British flies and other insects by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

by

Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds


HOME : Introduction : Methods : Miners : Parasitoids
Host plants by Scientific name : Common Name
References : Web resources : Acknowledgements : Recent changes : Index : Search


SYNOPSIS

Provisional keys for the identification of the known leaf and stem mines of flies of Britain are provided. A total of 781 host plant genera representing 119 families are discussed, although only 589 of these include native or alien species in the wild in Britain. A total of 208 keys to the mines of flies by host plant genus and 103 links to keys of related host genera are provided.

A total of 319 dipterous leaf-miners, 11 dipterous leaf- and stem-miners and 23 dipterous stem-miners are included in this account, although 6 of the leaf-miners are not accepted as British and 3 of the leaf-miners are known only from glasshouses and/or in quarantine. Checklists of the mining flies are given.

The majority of dipterous mines are due to the feeding activities of species of the family Agromyzidae, commonly called leaf-miners, but 74 species in 10 other Diptera families are included , along with all other agromyzids. The life-style and hosts of 53 British agromyzids are currently unknown.

The synonymy and known host preferences, biology and distribution are given for each of the 462 species of fly included along with a list of their known chalcidoid parasitoids. Links, where they exist, are included to species accounts in Nederlandse bladmineerders, British Leafminers and Fauna Europaea. Google search links are included for all fly species discussed. Search links to John Noyes' Universal Chalcidoid Database for 82 species of parasitoid on 177 species of Diptera are provided.

Full-colour images of dipterous leaf-mines are provided for 142 species, but this number will increase as additional reared adult miners are identified.

Lists of the known British mining (and case bearing) moths (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera) and sawflies (Hymenoptera) are given for each of the host plant genera discussed. The host plant genera associations include those included in the British Leafminers website, combining those cited on the individual insect species pages with the lists compiled by Pitkin & Plant, 2005 and those included in UKMoths.

The lists of mining moths, beetles and sawflies include external links (where they exist) to relevant pages on other websites. The linked pages on the British Leafminers and Nederlandse bladmineerders websites usually include one or more images of a mine and sometimes the larva and pupa (and for coleophorids the case). The linked pages on UKMoths website usually include an image of the adult and frequently the larva, pupa and mine (and for coleophorids the case). Together these linked pages should provide a means of identifying the mines of the majority of the known non-dipterous leaf-miners recorded in Britain.

Checklists of the mining moths, beetles and sawflies are given.

Search links to John Noyes' Universal Chalcidoid Database are provided.

Full-colour images of species of host plant are provided for 195 of the host plant genera, although not all are known host plants of fly miners in Britain. Links from 166 of the included host plant species to the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) Map Scheme (formerly Atlas Update Project) are provided, showing their hectad distribution.

Checklists by scientific and common name (where they exist) are given for all host plants.

If you notice any errors or omissions please contact Brian Pitkin. There is hyperlink to his e-mail address at the foot of every page. Just click on his name to launch your own e-mail application. Please quote the name of the fly, parasitoid or host plant in the subject of your e-mail.

This version comprises static web pages (HTML). The final version will appear as dynamic web pages (using JSP) and will be published on the Natural History Museum's website later this year/early next year. It will include the ability to search for fly miners, host plants and parasitoids.


e-mail:  Brian Pitkin, Research Associate, Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD.


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Last updated 14-Dec-2008  Brian Pitkin