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

 

Agromyza ferruginosa van de Wulp, 1871
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Agromyza ferruginosa van de Wulp, 1871. Tijdschr. Ent. 14: 205
Agromyza ferruginosa van de Wulp, 1871; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 31, 109
Agromyza ferruginosa van de Wulp, 1871; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 198, 199, 200 (figs 744-5).


Leaf-miner: A large blotch mine, several larvae feeding together (Spencer, 1972b: 31).

A dozen eggs are deposited in a semicircle at the leaf underside. After hatching the larvae eat themselves a communual corridor. After the first moult they begin the making of a very large, dark brown communal blotch, with conspicuous secondary feeding lines (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Mine of Agromyza ferruginosa on Symphytum officinale. Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)
Mine of Agromyza ferruginosa on Symphytum officinale
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Larva: The larvae of flies are leg-less maggots without a head capsule (see examples). They never have thoracic or abdominal legs. They do not have chewing mouthparts, although they do have a characteristic cephalo-pharyngeal skeleton (see examples), usually visible internally through the body wall.

The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Puparium: The puparia of flies are formed within the hardened last larval skin or puparium and as a result sheaths enclosing head appendages, wings and legs are not visible externally (see examples).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Boraginaceae        
Symphytum officinale Common Comfrey British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Symphytum officinale Common Comfrey British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 109

Hosts elsewhere:

Boraginaceae        
Pulmonaria       Spencer, 1990: 199
Pulmonaria officinalis Lungwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Symphytum       Spencer, 1990: 199
Symphytum asperum Rough Comfrey British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Symphytum officinale Common Comfrey British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Symphytum officinale Common Comfrey British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH

Time of year - mines: September.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread including Surrey (Charterhouse), Cambridge (Chippenham Fen), Huntingdonshire (Woodwalton Fen) (Spencer, 1972b: 31), Cambridgeshire, North Hampshire, West Kent and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Germany (Mines in BMNH), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (Scheirs, de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1996), Czech Republic, French mainland, Poland and Slovakia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Pulmonaria officinalis, Symphytum asperum, Symphytum officinale

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis amyite (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus lateralis (Haliday, 1839) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Heterolexis balteata (Thomson, 1895) Braconidae: Alysiinae


External links: Search the internet:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
Find using Google
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Find images using Google


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