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

 

Paracrania chrysolepidella (Zeller, 1851)
[Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae]


Micropteryx chrysolepidella Zeller, 1851. Linn. Ent. 5: 342
Eriocrania chrysolepidella
(Zeller, 1851)
Paracrania chrysolepidella
(Zeller, 1851).


Leaf-miner: The larva feeds on hazel or hornbeam, creating blotches with intertwining threads of frass, typical of the genus (UKMoths).

Large white blotch, starting at the leaf margin. Frass in long threads. Often several larvae in a mine. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also 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).

White with a pale brown head; a pair of brown spots on the pronotum (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by Rob Edmunds (as Eriocrania chrysolepidella). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Betulaceae        
Carpinus       UKMoths, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella
Carpinus betulus Hornbeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella
Carpinus betulus Hornbeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella
Corylus       UKMoths, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella
Corylus avellana Hazel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae        
Alnus viridis Green Alder   Bladmineerders van Europa
Carpinus betulus Hornbeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Corylus avellana Hazel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Ostrya       Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: A spring-flyng species, being at large during April (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England and recorded in the Republic of Ireland including Cambridgeshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Kent, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Monmouthshire, North Essex, North Somerset, Shropshire, South Essex, South Hampshire, West Glopucestershire, West Lancashire, West Suffolk and Westmorland (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland (Fauna Europaea).

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

Alnus viridis, Carpinus betulus, Corylus avellana

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, as Eriocrania chrysolepidella
UKMoths

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Last updated 26-May-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page