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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Scrobipalpa instabilella (Douglas, 1846)
[Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae]


Anacampsis instabilella Douglas, 1846. Zoologist 12: 70, fig. 10.
Scrobipalpa stabilis
Povolný, 1977. Acta. ent. bohem. 74: 192, fig'd.
Scrobipalpa instabilella
(Douglas, 1846).


Leaf-mine: The mine on Sea purslane can look inflated and the frass is emptied by a round hole in the leaf. The food plant leaves can be spun together (British leafminers). The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths and Nederlandse bladmineerders.

Larva: The larva is illustrated in UKMoths.

Pupa: In a mud-covered cocoon on the ground (British leafminers).

Hosts in Britain:

Asteraceae      
Aster tripolium Sea Aster British leafminers
Chenopodiaceae    
Atriplex littoralis Grass-leaved Orache British leafminers
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane British leafminers
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane Plant, in Pitkin & Plant, 2005
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane UKMoths
Salicornia europaea Common Glasswort British leafminers
Plantaginaceae      
Plantago coronopus Buck's-horn Plantain British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Chenopodiaceae      
Atriplex portulacoides Sea-purslane Nederlandse bladmineerders

Time of year - mines: March - May (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Britain: Found around the coasts of England (British leafminers), including East Cornwall, East Kent, East Suffolk, East Sussex, North Essex, South Essex, South Hants, West Cornwall, West Kent, West Norfolk, Westmorland (NBN Gateway distribution map - NE) and the Channel Is. (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). On salt marshes, mudflat and the banks of estuarine rivers (British leafminers). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

Distribution elsewhere: Europe including ? Austria, Belgium, Canary Is., Cyprus, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Portuguese mainland, Sardinia, Sicily, Spanish mainland and The Netherlands (Karsholt & van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

Parasitoids: Unknown.



External links: Search the internet:

Belgian Lepidoptera
British leafminers
NBN Gateway

Nederlandse bladmineerders
Fauna Europaea [290626]
UKMoths

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Last updated 28-Sep-2008  Brian Pitkin