The leaf and stem  mines of British flies and other insects by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds.


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Mompha miscella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
[Lepidoptera: Momphidae]
.


Tinea miscella Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775. Verz.: 142.
Tebenna opacella
Müller-Rutz, 1934. Mitt. Schweiz. ent. Ges. 16: 121, pl. 1 fig. 5.
Lophoptilus staintoni
Sircom, 1848. Zoologist: 2038.
Mompha miscella
(Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
.


Leaf-mine: Initially a gallery is made and filled with frass. It is widened abruptly into a blotch, which absorbs the gallery and may occupy the whole leaf. The frass may then be dispersed or heaped in the blotch. A larva may mine more than one leaf before it vacates the mine (UKMoths).

Corridor, densely packed with frass, suddenly widening into a blotch that often occupies the entire width of the leaf, then overrunning the initial corridor. Frass in the blotch disersed or clumped. The larvae can leave the mine and restart elsewhere. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Mine of Mompha miscella on Helianthemum nummularium Image: Willem Ellis (Nederlandse bladmineerders)
Mine of Mompha miscella on Helianthemum nummularium
Image: Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

The mine is also described and illustrated in British leafminers.

Larva: The larva is described and illustrated in (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: In a silk cocoon among leaf litter (UKMoths; British leafminers).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The male genitalia, but not the female genitalia (check for update), are illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Hosts in Britain:

Cistaceae      
Helianthemum     British leafminers
Helianthemum     UKMoths
Helianthemum apenninum White Rock-rose British leafminers
Helianthemum apenninum White Rock-rose Pitkin & Plant
Helianthemum canum   British leafminers
Helianthemum canum   Pitkin & Plant
Helianthemum lanceolatum   Pitkin & Plant
Helianthemum nummularium Common Rock-rose British leafminers
Helianthemum nummularium Common Rock-rose Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Cistaceae      
Cistus     Bladmineerders van Europa
Helianthemum apenninum White Rock-rose Bladmineerders van Europa
Helianthemum canum   Bladmineerders van Europa
Helianthemum nummularium Common Rock-rose Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: October-April and June-July (UKMoths; British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: The adults fly in two generations, primarily May-mid June, and mid July-August, but specimens can be found any time from late April to early October. Adults can often be taken in a fine meshed net by day, if the foodplants or nearby low vegetation are disturbed (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain & Ireland: The distribution of this moth follows that of its foodplants; rockroses (Helianthemum spp.), which are confined to limestone and chalk in southern Britain, but extends onto slightly acid soils in N.E. England and E. Scotland. It is usually a common moth, wherever its foodplants occur (UKMoths), including East Kent, East Perth, North Hants, South Aberdeen, South Wilts, Stafford and Westmorland (NBN Gateway distribution map - BRERC, NE, NESBRC and SNH). See also British leafminers distribution map.

NBN Grid map:

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in Europe including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - South, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution maps of known host species in Britain and elsewhere:

Helianthemum apenninum, Helianthemum canum, Helianthemum nummularium

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Hemiptarsenus waterhousii Westwood, 1833 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae


External links: Search the internet:

Belgian Lepidoptera
British leafminers
NBN Gateway
Bladmineerders van Europa
Fauna Europaea
UKMoths

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Last updated 27-Aug-2010  Brian Pitkin