Bucculatrix albedinella [Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)

by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

Bucculatrix albedinella (Zeller, 1839)
[Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae]

Elm Bent-wing

Lyonetia albedinella Zeller, 1839. Isis: 216
Elachista boyerella Duponchel, 1840. Hist. Nat. Lep. Fr. 11 (8): 545, pl. 309 fig. 3.
Bucculatrix albedinella (Zeller, 1839).

Leaf-miner: Winding full depth corridor up to 15 mm long with a long larval chamber. Black frass in a central line, broad, but leaving a clear zone at either side. Characteristically the corridor has 2-4 short, frass-free, side branches (diverticula) occurring at points where the main corridor makes a sharp turn. The first one often is interparenchymatous tissue and difficult to see; the following turns usually have opening in the lower epidermis at their end. Older larvae live free on the leaf, creating windows; the exit hole is in the underside of the leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in British leafminers.

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).

Mining larva with a black ventral spot on each abdominal segment. Free-living larva dull green above, pale yellow laterally and ventrally with some fragmented purplish subdorsal lines (Langmaid, Porter and Collins, 2007a) (see Bladmineerders van Europa).

The larva is illustrated in British leafminers.

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

The larva pupates in an oval cocoon that, contrary to what is usual in Bucculatrix, is not ribbed lengthwise (Langmaid, Porter and Collins, 2007a) (see Bladmineerders van Europa).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Ulmaceae
Ulmus		Elm	British leafminers
Ulmus	glabra	Wych Elm	Pitkin & Plant
Ulmus	procera	English Elm	Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Ulmaceae
Ulmus				Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July -September (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Hampshire (Dogmersfield and Odiham Common), Suffolk and Surrey (Farnham) (British leafminers); Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Leicestershire, Middlesex, North Essex, Shropshire, South Devon, Stafford, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East and Northwest, Sardinia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Ulmus glabra, Ulmus procera

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.


External links:	Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera Biodiversity Heritage Library Bladmineerders van Europa British leafminers Encyclopedia of Life Fauna Europaea NBN Atlas NHM UK Checklist UKMoths	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 13-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin