Minee of Rhamphus oxyacanthae on Crataegus monogyna Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Leaf-mine: Usually a very small (but see below), pear-shaped, upper-surface blotch, most of it stuffed with reddish-brown frass. Often several mines in a leaf. Ovipisition is already in May, but the larvae hatch late and initially develop very slowly; only against the end of summer the mines become apparent. The larvae remain the the mine and hibernate in the Fallén leaves. The bright-coloured frass and their large number makes these mines very conspicuous in autumn, despite their small size. The weevils feed pinhole-sized windows in the leaf upperside (maturation feeding) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is illustrated in British leafminers.

Larva: The legless larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Rhamphus oxyacanthae larva, dorsal Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Pupa: Details unknown.

Hosts in Britain:

Hosts elsewhere:

Time of year - larvae: Univoltine: Autumn. Overwinters full grown in the mine (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain & Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Brecon, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Sussex, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Lincolnshire, North-east Yorkshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Lincolnshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Gateway - N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below).

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Bulgaria, Corsica, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Moldova, Poland, Russia - Central, East, Northwest and South, Sardinia, Sicily, Sweden and Yugoslavia (Alonso-Zarazaga in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life, as Curculio oxyacanthae
Fauna Europaea
NBN Gateway