Cricotopus (Isocladius) trifasciatus (Meigen, 1813)
[Diptera: Chironomidae]



Chironomus trifasciatus
Meigen, 1813, in Panzer. Faunae insect. germ. Fasc. 109:18.

Tunneler: The larvae of a number of species of Chironomidae (non-biting midges) live in tunnels in decaying leaf sheaths under water. Their tunnels are open at both ends, and the larvae feed on particles they obtain from a water current they create in the tunnels. They do not feed on tissues of their 'hostplant' and therefore are not strictly miners (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Details unknown.

Puparium: Details unknown.

Comments: Cranston in Chandler, 1978 (1978) did not indicate whether his host records were British or Foreign and are therefore tentatively included under 'Hosts in Britain' and 'Hosts elsewhere', as is the record by Pitkin and Plant, which was previously assumed to be British.

UK Hosts:

Polygonaceae      

? Polygonum

    Pitkin and Plant
? Polygonum amphibium   Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamegetonaceae    
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219

Hosts elsewhere:

Nymphaeaceae      
Nuphar     Hering, 1957
Nymphoides     Hering, 1957
Poaceae      
Glyceria     Hering, 1957
Polygonaceae      

? Polygonum

    Pitkin and Plant
? Polygonum amphibium ? Amphibious Bistort Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamegetonaceae    
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamogeton     Hering, 1957

Time of year - mines: Unknown.

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

UK Distribution: Recorded in Britain by Cranston (1978) including Brecon, East Kent, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, East Kent, East Sussex and Monmouthshire (NBN Gateway - N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North and Northeast, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden and The Netherlands (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Polygonum amphibium, Potamogeton natans

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.



External links: Search the internet:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Gateway
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Last updated 19-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page