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

 

Parornix scoticella (Stainton, 1850)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Rowan Slender


Ornix scoticella Stainton, 1850. Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. (2) 1: 94.
Parornix scoticella
(Stainton, 1850).


Leaf-miner: Early mine a blotch with lower and upper epidermis turning brown. Then either a fold at the leaf edge, or a mine resembling that of a Phyllonorycter, but formed by a silken pad on the underside (British leafminers).

The mine begins with a lower-surface epidermal corridor, but soon the larva starts feeding on the sponge parenchyma. The mine then becomes a flat lower-surface blotch. Silk, deposited in the mine causes the lower epidermis to pucker ligtly. The lower (later also the upper) epidermis of the mine is greyish brown to brown. After leaving the mine the larva lives freely under a folded leaf margin, or in a fold at the underside of the leaf, in its centre, that is covered with silk (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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).

Greenish white; head light brown with a pair of brown spots (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

In folded leaf-edge, usually on ground (British leafminers).

Described by Patocka (2001b), Patocka and Turcani (2005a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Malus       British leafminers
Malus       Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus devoniensis Devon Whitebeam   Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Cotoneaster nebrodensis     Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus chamaemespilus     Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus intermedia Swedish Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July, August and September (British leafminers). See also British leafminers distribution map.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgshire, Carmarthenshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Suffolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Elgin, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Leicestershire, Linlithgow, Main Argyll, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Hampshire, North Somerset,Oxfordshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Devon, South Wiltshire, South Northumberland, South-east Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Wigtownshire (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North, Northwest and South, Sardinia, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Also recorded in East Palaearctic (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Malus sylvestris, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus intermedia, Sorbus torminalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea  
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Clinocentrus excubitor (Haliday, 1836) Braconidae: Rogadinae
Rhysipolis hariolator (Haliday, 1836) Braconidae: Rhysipolinae
Diadegma elishae (Bridgman, 1884) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Scambus inanis (Schrank, 1802) Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae


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 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page