The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects
 

(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)

by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

 

Ceutorhynchus insularis Dieckmann, 1871
[Coleoptera : Curculionidae]


Ceutorhynchus insularis Dieckmann, 1871
Ceutorhynchus contractus var pallipes Crotch, 1865.


Leaf-miner: A corridor mine which meanders through the leaf frequently crossing itself (British leafminers).

Larva: The larvae of beetles have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles and lack abdominal legs (see examples).

Pupa: The pupae of beetles have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Brassicaceae        
Cochlearia officinalis Common Scurvygrass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere: Currently unknown.

Time of year - larvae: Summer (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: C. insularis is a Red Data Book species, which is unique to St Kilda within the British Isles. Prior to its rediscovery in 2004, the only previously published finding was from 1931. The weevil's food plant is common scurvy-grass (Cochlearia officinalis), the only wild crucifer recorded on St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides (British leafminers).

A population regarded as a different variety of the same species occurs on islands off the South coast of Iceland (British leafminers).

C. insularis is related to the Common cabbage leaf weevil, C. contractus (= minutus), which is found on mainland Britain and in Europe. It is similar to a variety of C. contractus, which is found on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel (British leafminers).

Records of C. insularis from Cumberland and North Devon cited in the NBN Atlas are in error.

Distribution elsewhere: Not recorded (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cochlearia officinalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.



External links: Search the internet:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineeders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
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