LYCOPERSICON. Tomato. [Solanaceae]


Two species of Lycopersicon are recorded in Britain, the introduced Tomato (L. esculentum) and Currant Tomato (L. pimpinellifolium).

Lycopersicon esculentum is treated as Solanum lycopersicum by Stace (2010).

Two Diptera miners, the agromyzids Chromatomyia horticola and Liriomyza bryoniae are recorded on Lycopersicon in Britain.

The polyphagous agromyzid Liriomyza trifolii has been recorded in quarantine in Britain (Pitkin and Plant in British leafminers).

Elsewhere the polyphagous agromyzids Liriomyza bryoniae, Liriomyza huidobrensis, Liriomyza sativae, Liriomyza strigata and Liriomyza trifolii are recorded mining Lycopersicon.

Tomato - Lycopersicon esculentum Image:  Brian Pitkin
Tomato
Lycopersicon esculentum
No non-Diptera miners are recorded on Lycopersicon in Britain.

Elsewhere one British non-Diptera miner is recorded on Lycopersicon (see below).




Key for the identification of the mines of British Diptera recorded on
Lycopersicon




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).

1a > Leaf-miner: A short, irregular, linear upper surface mine on any part of the leaf. Puparium pale yellowish brown

On 119 plant genera in 31 plant families of which only 4 plant genera in 2 plant families are records including Lycopersicon in Britain. Local, probably introduced to Britain. Widespread in continental Europe particularly in Botanical Gardens and glasshouses. Also recorded in Egypt.

Liriomyza bryoniae (Kaltenbach, 1858) [Diptera: Agromyzidae].

1b > Leaf-miner: Mine linear, whitish, both upper and lower surface. Pupation internal, at the end of the mine with the anterior spiracles projecting through the epidermis (Spencer, 1976: 433). Upper-surface, less often lower-surface corridor. Frass in isolated grains. Pupation within the mine, in a, usually lower-surface, pupal chamber (Bladmineerders van Europa). A long whitish upper surface corridor, which eventually goes lower surface (British leafminers).

Two highly polyphagous species of Chromatomyia, with indistinguishable mines, have been recorded in Britain. These are syngenesiae (Hardy) and horticola (Goureau) which can only be distinguished by the male genitalia. Both are polyphagous and widespread in Britain and elsewhere, although syngenesiae is almost entirely restricted to Asteraceae (see also 'atricornis').

Chromatomyia horticola is recorded on 55 plant genera in 19 families in Britain including Lycoperscon in Britain.

Chromatomya syngenesiae is recorded in Britain on 27 plant genera in the family Asteraceae and many more genera elsewhere, but not yet on Lycopersicon in Britain.

Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau, 1851) [Diptera: Agromyzidae].
OR
Chromatomyia syngenesiae Hardy, 1849 [Diptera: Agromyzidae].




Key for the identification of the mines of British
non-Diptera recorded on Lycopersicon

 

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).

 

1 > Leaf-miner: Large, glassy, irregular blotches without a recognisable preceding corridor. Frass in a black mass, mainly in the oldest part of the mine. The larvae move several times, and can also bore in the stem and underground parts (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Mine of Phthorimaea operculella on Solanum nigrum Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)
Mine of Phthorimaea operculella on Solanum nigrum
Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Recorded on Solanum in Britain and Hyoscyamus, Lycopersicon, Nicotiana and Solanum elsewhere. Distribution in Britain unknown. Widespread in continental Europe.

Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) [Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae]



Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional
Last updated 06-Feb-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page