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

 

Pegomya holosteae (Hering, 1924)
[Diptera: Anthomyiidae]


Hylemyia holosteae Hering, 1924b. Z. Morph. Okol. Tiere 2: 232.
Pegomya holosteae (Hering, 1924b).


Leaf-miner: Mine a very long and straight corridor, only after a change of leaf, blotch-like. Corridor first following leaf margin, turning round at the apex, then blotch like and running towards the leaf base. Frass often indistinctly delimited and faded, blackish green.

The first mine that is made is a long corridor that runs along the leaf margin towards the leaf tip, then turns back and descends while becoming wider. Later mines are more or less blotchy. Frass greenish black, often somewhat deliquescent. Pupation external. (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.

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).

Comments: Ackland in Chandler (1978) did not indicate whether his host records were British or Foreign and are therefore tentatively included under 'Hosts in Britain' and 'Hosts elsewhere'.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Caryophyllaceae        
? Cerastium alsine     Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Cerastium fontanum Common Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Cerastium triviale     Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Stellaria holostea Greater Stitchwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228

Hosts elsewhere:

Caryophyllaceae        
Cerastium       Griffiths, 1982
? Cerastium alsine     Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Cerastium fontanum Common Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Cerastium triviale     Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Moehringia       Bladmineerders van Europa
? Stellaria holostea Greater Stitchwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Stellaria       Hering, 1957
Stellaria       Griffiths, 1982

Time of year - mines: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Cambridgeshire, East Ross, North Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Norfolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Andorra, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Northwest, Spanish mainland and Sweden (Michelsen in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cerastium fontanum, Stellaria holostea

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Biosteres haemorrhoeus (Haliday, 1837) Braconidae: Opiinae
Utetes caudatus (Wesmael, 1835) Braconidae: Opiinae
Utetes zelotes (Marshall, 1891) 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
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