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 lappae Goureau, 1851
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851. Annls Soc. ent. Fr. (2) 9: 159
Phytomyza lappina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1851. Rev. Mag. Zool. (2)3: 399. [See Spencer, 1976: 438]
Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851; Hendel, 1935. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 422
Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 74 (figs 246-7), 79, 111
Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 438-9, figs 765-6
Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 251, 254 (fig. 948), 255, 257, 258, 293.

Leaf-miner: An unusually long, narrow, whitish linear mine, frequently following a vein. Numerous larvae can occur together in a single leaf which can be completely eaten out. Pupation external (Spencer, 1972b: 74 (fig. 247); Spencer, 1976: 438, 439 (fig. 766)).

Long, little widening corridor. The first part is contorted, and its very first stretch is lower-surface; all other parts are upper-surface. The lower-surface part is visible as a light patch when illuminated from behind. The corridor often looks rather angular, because it tends to follow a vein over a considerable distance. Frass in rather large, well-spaced grains, often deposited at the same side of the corridor for a considerable length. Often several mines in leaf, that may seem white then when seen from a distance. Pupation outside the mine; exit slit in upper epidermis (Bladmineerders van Europa).

A very long, white, upper surface gallery which follows the veins and can appear angular because of this. Usually several in one leaf (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 described by Sasakawa (1961) and Dempewolf (2001: 194). 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).

Black; posterior spiracles each with an irregular ellipse of 20-28 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 438).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Arctium       Mines in BMNH
Arctium       Robbins, 1991: 119-120
Arctium lappa Greater Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Arctium lappa Greater Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Arctium lappa Greater Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 111
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 111
Arctium nemorosum Wood Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 111, as Arctium vulgare

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Arctium       Spencer, 1990: 251
Arctium lappa Greater Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 438
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 438
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Dempewolf, 2001: 194
Arctium minus Lesser Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Arctium nemorosum Wood Burdock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Arctium tomentosum Woolly Burdock   Spencer, 1976: 438

Time of year - mines: June-October.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread and common throughout British Isles (Spencer, 1972b: 79) including Hampshire (Fleet), Northampton (British leafminers), Warwickshire (Brandon Wood) (Robbins, 1991: 119-120); Anglesey, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Gloucestershire, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Main Argyll, North Ebudes, North Essex, North-west Yorkshire, Shropshire, South Lancashire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Common in much of Europe including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 438), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 574; Dempewolf, 2001: 194), Czech Republic and Poland (Fauna Europaea).

Range extending eastwards to Kazakhastan, Uzbekistan and the Kirghiz Republics of the [former] U.S.S.R. (Spencer, 1976: 438).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Arctium lappa, Arctium minus, Arctium tomentosum

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis pentheus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis viridis (Nees, 1934) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Diglyphus isaea (Walker, 1838) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Halticoptera patellana (Dalman, 1818) Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Miscogaster hortensis Walker, 1833 Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Miscogaster maculata Walker, 1833 Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Dacnusa maculipes Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa ocyroe Nixon, 1937 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Opius ambiguus Wesmael, 1835 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

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