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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Phyllonorycter rajella (Linnaeus, 1758)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]


Phalaena rajella Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Nat. (ed. 10): 542.
Tinea alnifoliella
Hübner, 1796. Samml. Europ. Schmett. Tin. 28: 193.
Phyllonorycter rajella
(Linnaeus, 1758)


Leaf-mine: The mine is underside, small, at or near midrib. The lower epidermis with one strong crease (British leafminers). The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths and Nederlandse bladmineerders.

Larva: Details unknown.

Pupa: The pupa is illustrated in Nederlandse bladmineerders. The cremaster is illustrated in British leafminers.

Hosts in Britain:

Betulaceae    
Alnus   British leafminers
Alnus   UKMoths
Alnus cordata Plant, in Pitkin & Plant, 2005
Alnus cordata UKMoths
Alnus glutinosa Plant, in Pitkin & Plant, 2005
Alnus incana Plant, in Pitkin & Plant, 2005

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae    
Alnus cordata Nederlandse bladmineerders
Alnus glutinosa Nederlandse bladmineerders
Alnus incana Nederlandse bladmineerders

Time of year - mines: July, September - October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Two generations; in May and again in August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Britain: Quite a common species throughout the British Isles (UKMoths) including
Berks, Buckingham, Cambridge, Hereford, Kincardine, Mid Perth, Mid-west York, Middlesex, North Devon, North Hants, Salop, South Aberdeen, Stafford, West Gloucester, West Kent, Worcester (NBN Gateway distribution map - BRERC, GiGL, JNCC, NE, NESBRC and SNH) and Northern Ireland (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in Europe including Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Sardinia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

Parasitoids:

Cirrospilus elegantissimus Westwood, 1841 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae


External links: Search the internet:

British leafminers
NBN Gateway

Nederlandse bladmineerders
Fauna Europaea [286866]
UKMoths

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Last updated 11-Jun-2008  Brian Pitkin