The leaf and stem  mines of British flies and other insects by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds


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Chirosia histricina (Rondani, 1866)
[Diptera: Anthomyiidae]


Chortophila histricina Rondani, 1866. Atti Soc. ital. Sci. nat. Milano 9: 169.
Anthomyia hystrix Brischke, 1880.Schr. naturf. Ges. Danzig (N.F.) 5: 287.
Anthomyia (Chortophila) nigronitens Pandellé, 1900. Revue Ent. 19(Suppl.): 265.
Pycnoglossa setifemur Ringdahl, 1939. Opusc. ent. 4: 147.


Leaf-mine: Mine in the frond, not its rolled apex. Mine on upperside. Even if deep still greenish in transmitted light. Mine very large and broad, usually extended to full depth of a single leaf section, The frass lies in a single almost unbroken fine, black line, parallel to the leaf margins. The mine is illustrated in British leafminers and Nederlandse bladmineerders.

Mines of Chirosia histricina on Pteridum aquilinum. Image: Willem Ellis (Source: Nederlandse bladmineerders)
Mines of Chirosia histricina on Pteridum aquilinum.
Image: Willem Ellis (Source: Nederlandse bladmineerders)

Larva: The larva is described by de Meijere (1911, as Hylemyia cinerosa) and Ellis (Nederlandse bladmineerders). The cephalopharyngeal skeleton with the upper process shorter than the lower. Mouth hook with only one tooth.

Puparium: Details unknown.

Hosts in Britain:

Dennstaedtiaceae      
Pteridium     Ackland, 1978: 227
Pteridium     British leafminers
Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Mines in BMNH
Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Robbins, 1991: 19-20
Dryopteridaceae      
Dryopteris     Robbins, 1991:

Hosts elsewhere:

Aspleniaceae      
Asplenium     Hering, 1957a
Asplenium ruta-muraria Wall-rue Nederlandse bladmineerders
Blechnaceae      
Blechnum     Hering, 1957a
Blechnum spicant Hard Fern Nederlandse bladmineerders
Dennstaedtiaceae      
Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Hering, 1957a
Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Nederlandse bladmineerders
Dryopteridaceae      
Dryopteris     Hering, 1957a
Polystichum     Hering, 1957a
Polypodiaceae      
Polypodium     Hering, 1957a
Osmundaceae      
Osmunda     Hering, 1957a
Woodsiaceae      
Athyrium     Hering, 1957a
Athyrium filix-femina Lady-fern Nederlandse bladmineerders
Cystopteris     Hering, 1957a
Matteuccia     Hering, 1957a

Time of year - mines: June-October.

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Britain: Widely distributed in Britain including Devon, Gloucester, Worcester, Hants, Oxford, Sutherland, Perth, Inverness, Argyll, Ross & Cromarty, Elgin (Mike Ackland, pers. comm.), Warwick (Allesley) (Robbins. 1991: 19-20), Berks, Derby, East Kent, Northampton, Salop, South Hants, South-east York, Stafford, Surrey, West Cornwall and West Kent (NBN Gateway distribution map - DF, NE and SER).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Michelsen, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Europe including The Netherlands and Luxembourg (Nederlandse bladmineerders), Austria, ? Corsica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - East, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden and Yugoslavia (Michelsen, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in East Palaearctic and Near East (Michelsen, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Parasitoids:

Pnigalio soemius (Walker, 1839) Hymenoptera: Eulophidae
Halticoptera patellana (Dalman, 1818) Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae


External links: Search the internet:

British leafminers
Fauna Europaea [129192]
NBN Gateway
Nederlandse bladmineerders

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Last updated 30-Sep-2008  Brian Pitkin