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

 

Phytomyza astrantiae Hendel, 1924
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Phytomyza astrantiae Hendel, 1924.


Leaf-miner: Irregular corridor; the sides are so irregular that it becomes a secondary blotch locally. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Forms a gallery/blotch mine which is brown in colour, with a pale yellow margin.The mines variy in morphology, forming a gallery come blotch, brown in colour with a pale yellow margin. The overall shape of the mine reflects the form of the leaves; thus, the first generation in May/June on lower wide leaves tend to be broad in extent, whereas the late generation in July/August on the narrow flowering stem leaves tend to be more gallery-like (British leafminers).

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.

The larva is illustrated in 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:

Apiaceae        
Astrantia major Astrantia British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Apiaceae        
Astrantia       Spencer, 1990: 158
Astrantia major Astrantia British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: May (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Found first in 2005 by Robert Homan in Cheltenham, Glos. It has since been found in Cumbria, Northants, Kent, Yorkshire, Hampshire and in Ross & Cromarty and Moray in Scotland. It is likely to be more widespread and previously overlooked (British leafminers).

Distribution elsewhere: Germany and Poland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Astrantia major

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Dacnusa laevipectus Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa maculipes Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dapsilarthra sylvia (Haliday, 1839) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Apodesmia similis (Szépligeti, 1898) Braconidae: Opiinae
Phaedrotoma rex (Fischer, 1958) 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
Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


XHTML Validator
Last updated 10-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin Top of page