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

  

Enteucha acetosae (Stainton, 1854)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Sorrel Pigmy

Nepticula acetosae Stainton, 1854. Ins. Brit. Lep. Tin. Pteroph.: 303.
Nepticula arifoliella Klimesch, 1940. Zeits. Wien. ent. Ver. 25: 92.
Enteucha acetosae (Stainton, 1854).

Leaf-miner: Oviposition at the leaf underside, usually near a vein. The mine is a narrow, hardly widening, corridor that makes about 5 whole of half circles closely around the egg. The leaf tissue around th mine is intensely reddened; often several mines in a leaf. Frass in a narrow central line. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The gallery starts in tight spirals, turning leaf red (British leafminers).

The larva moves away in an irregular gallery (UKMoths).

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).

Larva pale yellow (British leafminers). Body pale yellowish, head very pale light brown (Gustafsson and van Nieukerken, 199a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Pupation on detritus in a cocoon (British leafminers).

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Polygonaceae        
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Polygonaceae        
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex alpestris     Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: May - June, August - October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: There are two or three generations, with adults on the wing between April and July (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Cardiganshire, Dorset, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Kirrkudbrightshire, North Devon, South Devon, Surrey, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (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, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Rumex acetosa, Rumex acetosella

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 24-Jun-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page