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ACONITUM.
Monkshood. [Ranunculaceae]
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Four
species of Aconitum are recorded in Britain.These include
the native Monkshood (A. napellus) and the alien Wolf's-bane
(A. lycoctonum).
Only
one Diptera miner, the agromyzid Phytomyza
aconiti, is recorded on Aconitum in Britain and elsewhere,
and this is also recorded on Delphinium.
No non-Diptera miners are recorded on Aconitum in Britain.
Elsewhere
one British non-Diptera miner, Cnephasia
incertana, is recorded on Aconitum (see
below).
A
key to European mines on Aconitum, based on characteristics
of the mines, immature stages and where relevant the larval cases,
is provided in Bladmineerders van Europa. This includes Cnephasia
incertana, Phytomyza aconitella, Phytomyza
aconiti and Phytomyza aconitophila.
N.B.
The key to mines below includes mines recorded on Aconitum
and Delphinium (Ranunculaceae).
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Monk's
Hood
Aconitum napellus
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Key for the identification of the mines of British Diptera recorded on
Aconitum and Dephinium
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Note: Diptera larvae may live in a corridor mine, a corridor-blotch mine, or a blotch mine, but never in a case, a rolled or folded leaf, a tentiform mine or sandwiched between two more or less circular leaf sections in later instars. Pupation never in a cocoon. All mining Diptera larvae 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 larvae lie on their sides within the mine and use their pick-like mouthparts to feed on plant tissue. In some corridor miners frass may lie in two rows on alternate sides of the mine. In order to vacate the mine the fully grown larva cuts an exit slit, which is usually semi-circular (see Liriomyza huidobrensis video). The pupa is 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).
1 >
Leaf-miner: Larvae
feeding communally, as many as six together, forming large blackish
blotch (Spencer, 1972: 77). Large,
greyish-brown, upper-surface blotch, mostly near the tip of a leaflet,
without a preceding corridor. Primary feeding lines conspicuous.
Several larvae share a mine. Pupation outside the mine. Exit slit
in upper epidermis (Pakalniskis, 2004a) - see also Bladmineerders
van Europa.
On
Aconitum and Delphinium in Britain and elsewhere.
Widespread in gardens in Britain and elsewhere. Also recorded
in the eastern U.S.A. and Canada
Phytomyza
aconiti Hendel, 1920 [Diptera: Agromyzidae].
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Key for the identification of the mines of British non-Diptera recorded on
Aconitum
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Note: The larvae of mining Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera may live in a corridor mine, a corridor-blotch mine, a blotch mine, a case, a rolled or folded leaf, a tentiform mine or sandwiched between two more or less circular leaf sections in later instars. Larva may pupate in a silk cocoon. The larva may have at least six legs (although they may be reduced or absent), a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding). Larvae of Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera usually also have abdominal legs (see examples). Frass, if present, never in two rows. Unless feeding externally from within a case the larva usually vacates the mine by chewing an exit hole. Pupa with visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
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1 > Leaf-miner: In the first instar the larva mines the leaves, forming short,
irregular, blotch-like mines, but in later instars it lives externally,
feeding in spun leaves and often twisting those of tender shoots. Larval head light-brown or yellowish brown, edged with black postero-laterally,
ocellar area blackish; prothoracic plate black edged with whitish
anteriorly; abdomen dull dark green; pinacula distinct, black,
sometimes brownish but with black bases to setae; anal plate large,
black (Bradley et al., 1973).
Small,
full depth mine without a definite shape; little frass. Some silk
is deposited in the mine. The larva soon leaves the mine and continues
feeding among spun leaves (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
Recorded
on numerous genera and species of plant families, but not yet
on Aconitum, in Britain. Recorded on numerous genera
and species of plant families including Aconitum elsewhere.
Widespread in Britain and continental Europe. Also recorded from
the Channel Is.
Cnephasia
incertana (Treitschke, 1835) [Lepidoptera: Tortricidae]
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