Digitivalva pulicariae (Klimesch, 1956)
[Lepidoptera: Acrolepiidae]


Acrolepia pulicariae Klimesch, 1956. Z. Wien. ent. Ges. 41: 135, fig'd.
Digitivalva pulicariae
(Klimesch, 1956).


Leaf-mine: The larva mines the leaves, forming brownish or whitish inflated blotches (UKMoths).

Whitish or brownish full depth blotch, preceded by a short corridor that originates on the midrib or in the leaf base. Frass grains irregularly dispersed; part of the frass is ejected from the mine. The larva makes several mines. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also described in British leafminers.

Larva: Uniformly yellowish green (dorsally a somewhat darker length line) with light brown head (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Details unknown.

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The male and female genitalia are illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Adult of Digitivalva pulicariae
Ex mine in Pulicaria dysenterica
Image: © Ian Smith (UKMoths)

Hosts in Britain:

Asteraceae      
Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp-agrimony British leafminers
Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp-agrimony Pitkin and Plant
Pulicaria dysenterica Common Fleabane British leafminers
Pulicaria dysenterica Common Fleabane Pitkin and Plant
Pulicaria dysenterica Common Fleabane UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae      
Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp-agrimony Bladmineerders van Europa
Pulicaria dysenterica Common Fleabane Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July (UKMoths).

Time of year - adults: The adult moths fly from August and hibernate over winter, re-appearing up to May the following spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Locally distributed, occurring from southern England northwards to Northumberland and west to Wales (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, North Devon, North Essex, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Pembrokeshire, South Devon, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, Surrey, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Gateway , N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below).

Also recorded in Republic of Ireland (UKMoths and Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Eupatorium cannabinum, Pulicaria dysenterica

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.



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


Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional
Last updated 29-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page