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 pulla Meigen, 1830
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Agromyza pulla Meigen, 1830. Syst. Beschr. 6: 180
Agromyza pulla Meigen, 1830; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 37 (fig. 115), 41, 117
Agromyza pulla Meigen, 1830; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 113, 138 (fig. 525), 139.

Leaf-miner: An initially linear mine, which later develops into a blotch (Spencer, 1972b: 37 (fig. 115), 41).

Upper-surface, hook-shaped corridor mine. The corridor begins close to the base of a leaflet, runs along the margin to the tip, then redescends along the midrib while widening quickly. Frass in the first part in fine grains, later in lumps (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 described by de Meijere (1937).

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:

Fabaceae        
Genista tinctoria Dyer's Greenweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Genista tinctoria Dyer's Greenweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 117
Spartium       Robbins, 1991: 42
Spartium junceum Spanish Broom British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1989: 20

Hosts elsewhere:

Fabaceae        
Chamaespartium sagittale     Bladmineerders van Europa
Genista       Hering, 1957
Genista       Spencer, 1990: 113
Genista germanica     Bladmineerders van Europa
Genista pilosa Hairy Greenweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Genista tinctoria Dyer's Greenweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Spartium       Hering, 1957
Spartium       Spencer, 1990: 113
Spartium junceum Spanish Broom British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: June-August.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in southern Britain including Middlesex (Scratch Wood), Oxford (Blaydon) (Spencer, 1972b: 41) and Warwickshire (Earlsdon, Coventry) (Robbins, 1991: 42).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Germany (Bladmineerders van Europa), Austria, Czech Republic, French mainland, Poland, Slovakia and Spanish mainland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Genista pilosa, Genista tinctoria, Spartium junceum

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Miscogaster hortensis Walker, 1833 Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Apodesmia similis (Szépligeti, 1898) Braconidae: Opiinae
Opius gracilis Fischer, 1957 Braconidae: Opiinae

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
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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