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 ochraceella (Curtis, 1839)
[Lepidoptera: Momphidae]
.


Laverna ochraceella Curtis, 1839. Brit. Ent. 16: 735.
Mompha ochraceella
(Curtis, 1839).


Leaf and stem mine: Mining the stems and later the leaves (UKMoths).

The larva lives as a bark miner in late summer and autumn. It descends into the rootstock for hibernation. After hibernation large, lower surface blotch mines are made in the lower leaves, from a gallery in the bark. They start in the base of the leaf, and are centered over the midrib. The mine contains hardly any frass. The larva can make several mines. Sometimes several larvae in a mine. Pupation in the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: Yellowish white; head, prothoracic and anal plate light brown (Koster, 2002b; Koster & Sinev, 2003a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Details unknown.

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

Hosts in Britain:

Onagraceae      
Epilobium hirsutum Great Willowherb Pitkin & Plant
Epilobium hirsutum Great Willowherb UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Onagraceae      

? Chamerion

angustifolium Rosebay Willowherb Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium hirsutum Great Willowherb Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: Early spring, up to April (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Flying at night, and attracted to light, the adults can be found on the wing between May and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain & Ireland: Occurs widely throughout much of Britain (UKMoths) including East Kent, East Suffolk, Hunts, North Hants, South Devon, South Lancaster, South Somerset and West Kent (NBN Gateway distribution map - BRERC, JNCC, NE and SHWRG).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Grid map:

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in Europe including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

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

Chamerion angustifolium, Epilobium hirsutum

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.



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