|
|
(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)
by
Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds
|
|
|
HELIANTHEMUM.
Rock-roses. [Cistaceae]
|
Eight
species and subspecies Helianthemum are recorded in Britain.
These include Common Rock-rose (H. nummularium) and White
Rock-rose (H. apenninum).
Four
British miners are recorded on Helianthemum.
A key to the European miners recorded on Helianthemum is provided in Bladmineerders van Europa.
|
Common
Rock Rose
Helianthemum nummularium |
Key for the identification of the known mines of British
insects (Diptera and non-Diptera) recorded on Helianthemum
|
1a > Leaf-miner and case-bearer: The larva lives outside the mine, protected by a case, and feeds on the underlying plant tissues via a hole cut in the epidermis. From that point it eats away as much leaf tissue as it can reach without fully entering the mine. Mine does not contain frass (Coleophora species) |
2 |
1b > Leaf-miner, but not a case-bearer: The larva lives mainly inside the mine. Mine usually contains frass. In later instars the larva may live sandwiched between two more or less circular sections cut from the leaf. |
3 |
2a > Leaf-miner
and case-bearer: The larva builds a case from leaf fragments,
adding sections as it grows, creating a long narrow and distinctive
case.
A
large, composite leaf case of 10-15 mm length, the fully developed
case consisting the three succesive leaf fragments. Case light brown,
bivalved; mouth angle c. 45°. |
|
On Helianthemum nummularium in Britain and Helianthemum
nummularium and guttata elsewhere. Locally distributed
mainly in the southern counties of England and Wales. Widespread
in continental Europe.
|
Coleophora
ochrea (Haworth, 1828) [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]. |
2b > Leaf-miner
and case-bearer: The case resembles that of C.
violacea, but does not lie so flat again the leaf as this
species (having a mouth angle of 30 to 50°). C.
violacea also has a case which bulges in the middle, whereas
in C. potentillae the case tapers towards the posterior.
Immediately
after emergence the larva makes a full depth, quickly widening,
corridor, with frass as small grains in a broad central band. Finally
results a blotch of 2 x 5 mm, from which the youth case is cut.
The fully developed case is a hairy, greyish brown to silver grey
lobe case of about 1 cm long, with a clearly laterally compressed
end; the mouth angle is about 90°. The case is difficult to
separate from that of C. ochripennella. |
|
|
On Betula, Agrimonia, Crataegus, Filipendula ulmaria, Fragaria
vesca, Geum, Helianthemum nummularium,
Potentilla, Prunus spinosa, Rosa, Rubus caesius, Rosa fruticosus and Salix cinerea in Britain plus Malus sylvestris,
Ribes, Sanguisorba and Spiraea elsewhere. Widespread
in Britain and in continental Europe.
|
Coleophora
potentillae Elisha, 1885 [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]. |
3a > Leaf-miner: Young larvae make a number of rather large, untidy full depth mines.
The mines contain little or no frass. The lower-surface opening,
by which the larva has entered the mine, is irregularly roundish.
Older larvae live free on the plant. The larva pupates in a cocoon near the ground |
On Helianthemum nummularium in Britain and elsewhere. Occurs
mainly in the south, but there are scattered colonies further
north in such places as Cumbria and North Wales. Widespread in
continental Europe.
|
Adscita
geryon (Hübner, 1813) [Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae]. |
3b > Leaf-miner: Initially a gallery is made and filled with frass. It is widened
abruptly into a blotch, which absorbs the gallery and may occupy
the whole leaf. The frass may then be dispersed or heaped in the
blotch. A larva may mine more than one leaf before it vacates the
mine.
Corridor, densely packed with frass, suddenly widening into a blotch
that often occupies the entire width of the leaf, then overrunning
the initial corridor. Frass in the blotch disersed or clumped. The
larvae can leave the mine and restart elsewhere. Pupation outside
the mine. Pupation in a silk cocoon among leaf litter (UKMoths; British
leafminers). |
|
|
On Helianthemum apenninum, Helianthemum canum, Helianthemum
lanceolatum and Helianthemum nummularium in Britain
and Cistus, Helianthemum apenninum, Helianthemum canumand Helianthemum nummularium elsewhere. Widespread in Britain
and elsewhere.
|
Mompha
miscella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) [Lepidoptera:
Nepticulidae]. |
|