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

 

Cerodontha fulvipes (Meigen, 1830)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Agromyza fulvipes Meigen, 1830. Syst. Beschr. 6: 174
Agromyza femoralis Meigen, 1838. Syst. Beschr. 7: 397.
Cerodontha fulvipes Meigen, 1830; Hendel, 1932. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 272
Cerodontha fulvipes Meigen, 1830; Sasakawa, 1961. Pacif. Insects 3: 367
Cerodontha fulvipes Meigen, 1830; Nowakowski, 1967. Polskie Pismo ent. 37: 657
Cerodontha fulvipes Meigen, 1830; Nowakowski, 1972. Polskie Pismo ent. 42(4): 739
Cerodontha (Cerodontha) fulvipes (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 107
Cerodontha (Cerodontha) fulvipes (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 179-80, fig. 320
Cerodontha (Cerodontha) fulvipes (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 355, 364.


Leaf-miner: The mine starts as a narrow, mostly upper-surface, sometimes lower-surface or interparenchymatous corridor that goes down to the ligula and from there descends into the leaf sheat, generally taking the inside. Usually only one mine per leaf. Pupation in the mine, in a puparial chamber at the margin of the leaf sheath (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Neither mine nor larva can be separated from those of C. denticornis, that lives on a much wider range of hostplants (Nowakowski, 1973a).

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.

Anterior spiracles with 12-3 bulbs, posterior spiracles with 12, in 3 to 5 groups; mandible with 2 teeth (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:

Poaceae        
Poa trivialis Rough Meadow-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 124

Possibly other grasses (Spencer, 1972b).

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        
Poa       Spencer, 1990: 355
Poa trivialis Rough Meadow-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Poa trivialis Rough Meadow-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 180

Time of year - mines: July (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: July.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in southern Britain, also Aberdeen (Den of Pitlurg) and Inverness (Feshie Bridge) (Spencer, 1972b: 107) and Berkshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire, East Kent, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, Radnorshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Norfolk and Westmorland (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland: Co. Clare (Spencer, 1972b: 107).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Finland, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 180); The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 554), Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, French mainland, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spanish mainland and Switzerland (Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in Japan (Spencer, 1976: 180).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Poa trivialis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Halticoptera aenea (Walker, 1833) Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus diremtus (Nees, 1834) 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

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