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AMELANCHIER.
Juneberries and Snowy Mespilus. [Rosaceae]
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Three
species of Amelanchier are recorded in Britain. These include
the native Juneberry (A. lamarckii), Snowy Mespilus (A.
ovalis) and Low Juneberry (A. spicata).
No Diptera miners are recorded mining Amelanchier in Britain.
One
non-Diptera miner, Lyonetia
clerkella is recorded on Amelanchier in Britain
(see below).
Elsewhere
sixteen additional British non-Diptera miners are recorded on Amelanchier
(see below).
A key to the European miners, based on characteristics of the mines, immature stages and where relevant the larval cases, recorded on Amelanchier is provided in Bladmineerders
van Europa. This includes Neocoenorrhinus pauxillus, Coleophora
hemerobiella, Coleophora
serratella, Coleophora kroneella, Rhamphus
oxycanthae, Leucoptera
malifoliella, Recurvaria
nanella, Bucculatrix
bechsteinella, Lyonetia
clerkella, Stigmella
sorbi, Stigmella
oxyacanthella, Stigmella
magdalenae, Stigmella
mespilicola, Stigmella
hybnerella, Parornix anguliferella, Phyllonorycter
corylifoliella, Phyllonorycter
cydoniella, Phyllonorycter
blancardella, Phyllonorycter deschkai and Phyllonorycter
mespilella.
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Non-Diptera
miners recorded on Amelanchier in Britain
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Lyonetia
clerkella (Linnaeus, 1758) [Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae]
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Leaf-mine:
A long, whitish smoothly-curved upper-surface mine with
broken black frass (British
leafminers).
Oviposition
is by means of an ovipositor; what remains is a small scar:
no egg shell is visible at the start of the mine. From here
a long, sometimes very long, slender, full depth corridor
winds throught the leaf, not steered by leaf margin or the
leaf venation. The midrib is crossed effortless (see 'special');
the corridor frequently also crosses itself; the section
of the leaf cut off then usally turns brown and dies off.
Frass in a narrow central line. The larva vacates the mine
prior to pupation through an exit in the upper epidermis.
Pupation takes place in a cocoon that hangs in a 'hammock'
in a fold of the leaf. The vacated larval chamber is proportionally
much longer than in the case of Stigmella mines (>
3 x longer than broad) (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Additional British non-Diptera miners recorded on Amelanchier elsewhere
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Coleophora
hemerobiella (Scopoli, 1763) [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]
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Leaf-miner
and case-bearer:
The species spends two years as a larva, the first one-and-a-half
years in a small pistol-case, and in the second spring building
a long straight case which is dark brown and rather distinctive
(UKMoths).
The
lava lives from autumn until summer next year. In autumn
a composite leaf case is made, shaped like the handle of
a walking stick. Early in the following spring a tubular
leaf case is made that in the end is rather large (10 mm)
and is positioned vertically on the leaf; mouth angle 90°
(Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Coleophora
serratella (Linnaeus, 1761) [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]
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Leaf-miner
and case-bearer:
The larva feeds by inserting its head into small mines it
creates on the leaves of birch, elm, alder, or hazel. Occasionally
it is found feeding on other trees, or on herbaceous plants
onto which it has accidentally fallen. It forms two cases
during its larval life. The first case is initially curved,
smooth, laterally compressed with a bivalved anal opening,
and about 2 mm long in September. During October it feeds,
and adds a few rough collars of larval material around the
oral opening. After hibernation, it feeds again in April
and early May, adding more protruding collars until they
equal or exceed the original smooth part of the case. At
the same time, it expands the case girth by the creation
of a silk gusset ventrally. The second case, 6 or 7 mm long,
is formed in May, leaving the vacated first case attached
to its last feeding mine. The new case is tubular with a
trivalved crimp at the anal opening. The dorsum is formed
from the edge of the leaf from which the case was cut. This
results in a more or less serrated dorsal keel, depending
on the plant species and the individual piece of leaf used.
Considerable variation in the degree of serration can be
found, even among specimens off the same tree. The case
colour varies with food plant, from yellowish brown on birch,
darkening through elm and hazel to dark brown on alder (UKMoths).
The
strongly curved young case is is a composite leaf case,
the adult case is a tubular leaf case. The adult case is
bivalved, about 7 mm in length; the mouth angle is around
30°. The case is straw coloured and almost always has
a toothed dorsal keel (remnant of the margin of the leaf
from which the case was cut). Neither larvae or cases of
C. coracipennella,
prunifoliae,
serratela and spinella
can be separated; from serratella (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
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More..
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Bucculatrix
bechsteinella (Bechstein
& Scharfenberg, 1805)
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Leaf-mine:
The
larvae initially mining the leaves in a short, contorted
gallery. As the larva develops it leaves the mine to feed
externally, creating windows on the upperside of the leaves
(UKMoths).
Oviposition
at the leaf upperside, egg shell iridescent. Small, hook-like
corridor, mostly in a vein axil. Frass in a very thick central
line. The larva soon leaves the mine through an untidy hole
and subsequenty feeds living freely on the leaf (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
The
mine is also described and illustrated in British
leafminers.
More..
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Leucoptera
malifoliella (O. Costa, 1836) [Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae]
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Leaf-mine:
A circular or oval brownish blotch with a central spiral
of dense blackish frass (British
leafminers), sometimes several mines in one leaf (UKMoths).
Oviposition
is at the leaf underside, well away from the leaf margin;
the egg has a fine reticulate surface. The mine is a rather
large, perfectly circular blotch without a trace of a preceeding
corridor. Around the dark centre the frass, glued to the
upper epidermis is arranged in distinct arcs (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Phyllonorycter
blancardella (Fabricius, 1781) [Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]
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Leaf-mine:
A
mine with several creases in lower epidermis. On thinner
leaves, such as crab-apple, the upper surface may be arched
to form a tube (British
leafminers).
Lower
surface tentiform mine with a yellow-green epidermis that
has a few folds. Pupation within the mine. The pupa is amber
or chestnut brown, and lies in a white cocoon. Generally
the frass is accumulated in a corner of the mine, but sometimes
a small quantity is incorporated in the wall of the cocoon
(Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Phyllonorycter
corylifoliella (Hübner, 1796) [Lepidoptera:
Gracillariidae]
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Leaf-mine:
The mine is in the upper epidermis of a leaf, usually over
midrib or vein. The mine is at first silvery, later with
brown speckling (British
leafminers).
Silvery,
upper-surface, epidermal tentiform mine, centered over the
midrib or a heavy lateral vein. Unlike P.
leucographella, with which this species shares some
host plants, the upper epidermis looks dirty by the presence
of numerous fine black-brown specks of frass. The epidermis
remains without folds until the mine becomes strongly contrated.
Young mines look like a streak of silver on top of a vein
(Bladmineerders
van Europa).
The
mine is also described and illustrated in UKMoths.
More..
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Phyllonorycter
cydoniella (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) [Lepidoptera:
Gracillariidae]
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Leaf-mine:
The
mine is an underside, strongly creased blister, causing
a distinct pucker in the upperside of the leaf (UKMoths).
Difficult
to distinguish between P. cydoniella and P.
blancardella on the basis of mine characteristics
- both form arched tubes on the leaf of M. sylvestris.
P. cydoniella tends to make the larger mine on M.
sylvestris and the pupa is in a cocoon, with frass to
one side (British
leafminers).
Elongated,
lower surface, tentiform mine with one strong fold in the
lower epidermis. Pupa in a white cocoon, in which no frass
in incorporated; all frass in a clump in the mine. Before
ecdysis the pupa works itself out of the mine through the
floor in the mine (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Phyllonorycter
mespilella (Hübner, 1805) [Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]
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Leaf-mine:
Lower-surface,
yellow-green tentiform mine, 20-32 mm long, with a number
of fine folds in the lower epidermis. In most cases the
mine is elongate, situated between two lateral veins.
The reddish to chestnut brown pupa lies in a flimsy cocoon
in which no frass is incorporated: the frass is stored
not in a clump but in a row of loose grains behind the
cocoon. Just before edcysis the pupa works itself out
of the mine through the lower wall; mostly the empty exuvium
sticks halfway out of the mine (Bladmineerders
van Europa.
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Mine
of Phyllonorycter mespilella
Image: Rob Edmunds (british leafminers)
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The
mine is also illustrated in British
leafminers.
More..
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Recurvaria
nanella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) [Lepidoptera:
Gelechiidae]
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Leaf-mine:
The young larva mines the leaves of its foodplant then hibernates.
It will then mines leaves or flowerbuds, then blossom or
leaves (British
leafminers).
Branched,
sometimes stellate, brownish, very transparent, sometimes
long corridor that contains no frass. All frass is ejected
through a number of tiny openings that generally are close
to a vein. Only the young larvae are miners (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Rhamphus
oxycanthae (Marsham, 1802) [Coleoptera: Curculionidae]
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Leaf-mine:
Usually a very small (but see below), pear-shaped, upper-surface
blotch, most of it stuffed with reddish-brown frass. Often
several mines in a leaf. Ovipisition is already in May,
but the larvae hatch late and initially develop very slowly;
only against the end of summer the mines become apparent.
The larvae remain the the mine and hibernate in the fallen
leaves. The bright-coloured frass and their large number
makes these mines very conspicuous in autumn, despite their
small size. The weevils feed pinhole-sized windows in the
leaf upperside (maturation feeding) (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
The
mine is also described and illustrated in British
leafminers.
More..
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Stigmella
hybnerella (Hübner, 1813) [Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]
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Leaf-mine:
The frass linear in early gallery, widening to blotch with
dispersed frass (British
leafminers).
Oviposition
at random point of the leaf, either at upper- or lower-surface.
First a quite slender corridor is made, with a relatively
broad, continuous, frass line, that always leaves a clear
margin at either side; the corridor winds freely through
the leaf. This initial corridor often abruptly changes in
direction, widens into a blotch that mostly lie along the
leaf margin. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Stigmella
magdalenae (Klimesch, 1950) [Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]
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Leaf-mine:
A long thin linear gallery with frass in a thin line,
sometimes broken. This distinguishes it form S.nylandriella,
which never has linear frass throughout the mine. The gallery
of S.magadalenae is also narrower than S.nylandriella.
S. magdalenae can both be an edge miner or make a
small mine in the leaf blade, or run along a vein (British
leafminers).
Egg
at the underside of the leaf, independent of the venation.
The corridor is narrow from start to end, and compressed
on a small space, sometimes following the leaf margin for
a while, more often along a major vein. Frass in a narrow,
regularly interrupted central line. In thick leaves the
frass line is broader, and the corridor is shorter (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Stigmella
mespilicola (Frey, 1856) [Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]
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Leaf-mine:
Rather short, full dpeth, gradually widening corridor, the
last section suddenly widenened still a bit more into an
elongated blotch. Frass in a central line, about 1/3 of
the width of the corridor. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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Stigmella
oxyacanthella (Stainton, 1854) [Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]
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Leaf-mine:
The reddish frass is linear, later in arcs, finally dispersed
(British
leafminers).
Long
corridor, that widens only little, and winds freely through
the leaf, not influenced by the venation. In thick, sun-exposed
leaves the mine may be much shorter, especially in Cotoneaster,
Malus and Pyrus. Frass brown, in arcs. (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
The
mine is also illustrated in UKMoths.
More..
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Stigmella
sorbi (Stainton, 1861) [Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]
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Leaf-mine:
A narrow gallery leads abruptly to large blotch (British
leafminers).
Oviposition
on the leaf underside. The mine begins as a very slender
winding corridor of 15-20 mm, the second part of which is
almost stuffed with frass. The corridor abruptly widens
into a blotch with dispersed frass; in large leaves this
blotch is almost circular. Mostly the midrib is not crossed,
but the mine can occupy the major part of a leaflet. Often
several mines in leaf (Bladmineerders
van Europa).
More..
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