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

 

Tachyerges salicis (Linnaeus, 1758)
[Coleoptera : Curculionidae]


Curculio salicis Linnaeus, 1758
Curculio bifasciatus
Fabricius, 1777
Curculio capreae
Fabricius, 1781
Curculio saltatorsalicis
De Geer, 1775
Curculio scrutator
Herbst, 1795
Orchestes subhirtus
Horn, 1873
Tachyerges salicis (Linnaeus, 1758.).


Leaf-miner: A large, full depth transparent light brown blotch that expands irrespective of the leaf venation. Mine mostly in the distal half of the leaf, may eventually occupy half of its surface. The mine often tears in, and the leaf tip is disfigured (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Forms a blotch mine at a leaf tip and can distort the leaf. The mine may occupy half the leaf (British leafminers).


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

The larva eventually pupates in a globular cocoon within the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Tachyerges salicis larva,  dorsal
Tachyerges salicis larva, dorsal
Image: © Rob Edmunds (Bladmineerders van Europa)

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

Adult:

Tachyerges salicis
Tachyerges salicis, adult
Image: Carina Van Steenwinkel (British Leafminers)

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Salicaceae        
Salix       British leafminers
Salix       Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Salicaceae        
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild F= Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: May-June and August (Hering, 1957).

Time of year - adults: April and July-August (Augustin, 1998a). However, Scherf (1964a) states that there is but one generation per year (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: East Kent, North Hampshire and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Bulgaria, ? Corsica, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia - East, Slovakia and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Populus nigra, Salix fragilis, Salix pentandra, Salix pupurea, Salix triandra

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

External links: Search the internet:

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life, as Salius decoratus
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist

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