UMBILICUS. Navelwort or Wall Pennywort. [Crassulaceae]


Only one species of Umbilicus is recorded in Britain - Navelwort (U. rupestris). It is a native species.

Only one Diptera miner, the syrphid Cheilosia semifasciata, is recorded on Umbilicus in Britain and elsewhere.

No non-Diptera leaf-miners are recorded on Umbilicus in Britain.

Elsewhere two British non-Diptera miner are recorded on Umbilicus (see below).

The tortricid Cnephasia conspersana is recorded as a seed / shoot-feeder on Umbilicus in Britain.

Wall Pennywort - Umbilicus rupestris Image:  Brian Pitkin
Navelwort or Wall Pennywort
Umbilicus rupestris




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




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 > Full depth mine; in parts of the mine the parenchyma remain untouched. The larva enters and exits the leaf by means of an oval opening of 3-5 mm at the base, near the leaf edge. Pupation external.

On Sedum telephium and Umbilicus rupestris in Britain. Elsewhere also on Sedum rosea, Sedum telephium and Saxifraga rotundifolia. Widespread in southern England. Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland. Widespread in continental Europe.

Cheilosia semifasciata Becker, 1894 [Diptera: Syrphidae].



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

 

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).

 

1a > 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 several plant families, but not yet on Umbilicus, in Britain. Recorded on numerous genera and species of several plant families, including Umbilicus, elsewhere. Widespread in Britain and continental Europe. Also recorded from the Channel Is.

Cnephasia incertana (Treitschke, 1835) [Lepidoptera: Tortricidae]

 

1b > Rather narrow corridor, untidy and sometimes branched, starting from the base of the leaf, in particular the midrib. Sides of the corridor irregularly eaten out, not really parallel. Frass mostly present, and then in a central line. The legless larva is capable of leaving the mine and start a new one elsewhere. These later mines are much broader, and the frass is scattered irregularly. (Bladmineerders van Europa.

Host plants unknown in Britain. Recorded on numerous genera and species in several plant families, including Umbilicus, elsewhere. Recorded in southern England. Widespread in continental Europe.

Orthochaetes insignis (Aube, 1863) [Coleoptera: Curculionidae]



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