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 demaryella (Duponchel, 1840)
[Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae]

Birch Bent-wing

Elachista demaryella Duponchel, 1840. Hist. Nat. Lep. Fr. 11 (8): 547, pl. 309 fig. 5
Bucculatrix demaryella (Duponchel, 1840).

Leaf-miner: The larva begins with a short, full depth corridor, often along the midrib or a thick vein. Most of the mine with a thick frass line. The larva soon leaves the mine, and starts causing window-feeding, later eating holes in the leaf. The larval chamber (the space occuped by the larva, while in the mine, obviously free of frass) is more than three times as long as wide (Bladmineerders van Europa).The mine is also illustrated in British leafminers.

Mine of Bucculatrix demaryella on Betula pubscens
Mine of Bucculatrix demaryella on Betula pubscens
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

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).

The mining larva is pale yellow with a darker head (the free living larva is grey green) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Betulaceae        
Betula       British leafminers
Betula       Pitkin & Plant
Corylus avellana Hazel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Corylus       Pitkin & Plant
Fagaceae        
Castanea sativa Sweet Chestnut British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Castanea sativa Sweet Chestnut British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae        
Betula       Belgian Lepidoptera
Betula nana Dwarf Birch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula pendula Silver Birch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula pubescens Downy Birch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Castanea       Belgian Lepidoptera
Corylus avellana Hazel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Corylus avellana Hazel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including East Sutherland (Achany) (British leafminers); Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Merionethshire, Mid Perthshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Essex, South Northumberland, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Somerset, Stafford, Stirlingshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Perthshire, West Suffolk and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

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

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Betula nana, Betula pendula, Betula pubescens, Castanea sativa, Corylus avellana

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Diadegma crassum (Bridgman, 1889) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Diadegma pusio (Holmgren, 1860) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae

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

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 Last updated 10-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page