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

 

Ectoedemia heringella (Mariani, 1939)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]


Nepticula heringella Mariani, 1939)
Ectoedemia heringella
(Mariani, 1939).


Leaf-miner: Egg at the upperside of the leaf, often near a vein. The mine is a strongly contorted gallery, almost entirely filled with black frass. The mine is 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).

The larva is a pale colour (British leafminers).

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

Pupation in a cocoon between the leaves, in captivity (British leafminers).

Adult: The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fagaceae        
Quercus ilex Evergreen Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
        Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fagaceae        
Quercus alnifolia     British leafminers

Time of year - larvae: November to April (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Initially in Greater London (2002) - now spreading through southern England (British leafminers). East Suffolk, Leicestershire, North Essex, Surrey and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Corsica, Croatia, Cyprus, Greek mainland, Italian mainland and Sicily (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Quercus ilex

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

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Last updated 23-May-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page