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

 

Stigmella aceris (Frey, 1857)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Scarce Maple Pigmy


Nepticula aceris Frey, 1857. Linn. Ent. 2: 386.
Stigmella aceris
(Frey, 1857).


Leaf-miner: A gallery filled with green frass. In the older gallery the frass turns brown (British leafminers).

A narrow corridor. The coiled frass is greenish (blackish brown in old or dried mines). Generally the entire width of the corridor is filled up, making the mine rather inconspicuous. The sides of the corridor are not straight, rather irregular (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).

Bright green; see Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) and Schoorl et. al. (1985a) for an extensive description (Bladmineerders van Europa). The larva is green (British leafminers).

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

Adult: The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Aceraceae        
Acer campestre Field Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Acer campestre Field Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Acer platanoides Norway Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Acer platanoides Norway Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Aceraceae        
Acer campestre Field Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Acer campestre Field Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer ginnala     Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer platanoides Norway Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Acer platanoides Norway Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer saccharophorum     Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer tataricum Tartar Maple   Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: End of June-early July, August-early September (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England including Herefordshire, Middlesex, Surrey, West Gloucestershire, West Kent and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East and South, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Acer campestre, Acer platanoides, Acer tataricum

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis amanus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Allurus muricatus (Haliday, 1833) Braconidae: Euphorinae
Gnamptodon decoris (Förster, 1862) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae


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