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


HOME : Introduction : Methods : Miners : Parasitoids
Host plants by Scientific name : Common name
References : Web resources : Acknowledgements : Recent changes : Index : Search


Ophiomyia pulicaria (Meigen, 1830)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Agromyza pulicaria Meigen, 1830. Syst. Beschr. 6: 170.
Agromyza pulicaria Meigen, 1830; Hendel, 1931. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 171.
Ophiomyia pulicaria (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1964a. Beitr. Ent. 14: 802.
Ophiomyia pulicaria (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 11, 21 (fig. 34), 25, 113, 114, 115.
Ophiomyia pulicaria (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 75, figs 96-7.
Ophiomyia pulicaria (Meigen, 1830); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 259, 260 (fig. 975), 261.


Leaf-mine: A whitish blotch-mine along the mid-rib, with lateral offshoots into the leaf blade. Pupation at base of leaf in petiole (Spencer, 1972b: 25). The mine is illustrated in Nederlandse bladmineerders.

Mine of Ophiomyia pulicaria on Taraxacum officinale. Image: Willem Ellis (Source: Nederlandse bladmineerders)
Mine of Ophiomyia pulicaria on Taraxacum officinale.
Image: Willem Ellis (Source: Nederlandse bladmineerders)

Larva: The larva is described by de Meijere (1928) and Sasakawa (1961). Posterior spiracles on short stalks, each with an ellipse of 11-14 bulbs (Spencer, 1972b: 25).

Puparium: Pale, whitish-yellow (Spencer, 1972b: 25).

Hosts in Britain:

Asteraceae      
Crepis biennis Rough Hawks-beard Spencer, 1972b: 113
Hieracium     Robbins, 1991: 124
Hypochaeris     Spencer, 1972b: 25
Hypochaeris radicata Cat's-ear Spencer, 1972b: 113
Leontodon autumnalis Autumn Hawkbit Spencer, 1972b: 114
Picris hieracioides Hawkweed Oxtongue Spencer, 1972b: 114
Pilosella officinarum   Spencer, 1972b: 113 (as Hieracium pilosella)
Sonchus     Robbins, 1991: 124
Sonchus     Spencer, 1972b: 25
Sonchus arvensis Perennial Sow-thistle Spencer, 1972b: 115
Sonchus asper Prickly Sow-thistle Spencer, 1972b: 115
Sonchus oleraceus Smooth Sow-thistle Robbins, 1989: 20
Taraxacum     Robbins, 1991: 124
Taraxacum     Spencer, 1972b: 25
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Mines in BMNH
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Spencer, 1972b: 115

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae      
Andryala     Spencer, 1990: 259
Chondrilla     Spencer, 1990: 259
Crepis     Spencer, 1976: 74
Crepis     Spencer, 1990: 259
Crepis     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Hieracium     Spencer, 1976: 74
Hieracium     Spencer, 1990: 259
Hieracium     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Hypochaeris     Spencer, 1976: 74
Hypochaeris     Spencer, 1990: 259
Hypochaeris     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Lapsana     Spencer, 1990: 259
Lactuca     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Lapsana communis Nipplewort Nederlandse bladmineerders
Leontodon     Spencer, 1990: 259
Leontodon     Spencer, 1976: 74
Leontodon     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Mycelis muralis Wall Lettuce Nederlandse bladmineerders
Picris     Spencer, 1976: 74
Picris     Spencer, 1990: 259
Picris     Nederlandse bladmineerders
Reichardia     Spencer, 1990: 259
Sonchus     Spencer, 1976: 74
Sonchus     Spencer, 1990: 259
Sonchus asper Prickly Sow-thistle Nederlandse bladmineerders
Taraxacum     Spencer, 1990: 259
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Nederlandse bladmineerders

Time of year - mines: May, July.

Time of year - adults: There are at least two generations per year.

Distribution in Great Britain & Ireland: Widespread and common in south, also Lancaster (Formby) (Spencer, 1972b: 25) and Warwick (Robbins, 1991: 124).

NBN Distribution maps of known host species:

Distribution elsewhere: Holarctic. Europe including Denmark, Finland, Norway (Spencer, 1976: 75), The Netherlands (Nederlandse bladmineerders), Belgium (de Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 75), Austria, Canary Is., Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, European Turkey, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (Martinez in Fauna Europaea).

Range extending east to Siberia (Spencer, 1976: 75).

Also recorded from Canada (Spencer, 1969a: 93; Spencer, 1976: 75).

Parasitoids: Unknown.



External links: Search the internet:

British leafminers
Fauna Europaea [128731]
NBN Gateway
Nederlandse bladmineerders

Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

Top of page

Last updated 14-Dec-2008  Brian Pitkin