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 aeneofasciella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Brassy Pigmy

Nepticula aeneofasciella Herrich-Schäffer, 1855. Syst. Bearb. Schmett. 5: 353.
Stigmella aeneofasciella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855).

Leaf-miner: A slender gallery, leading to blotch (British leafminers).

Egg on the underside of the leaf. The first part of the mine is a long, slender corridor, rather straight, often folllowing a vein or the leaf margin. The frass here is black, lying in a very narrow central line. The corridor abruptly widens into a large blotch, where the the frass lies irregularly scattered (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).

Pale greenish yellow. See Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) for an extensive description (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva is a pale watery greenish yellowish (whereas S. poterii its yellow) (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. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Agrimonia       British leafminers
Agrimonia eupatoria Agrimony British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Fragaria       British leafminers
Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Potentilla       British leafminers
Potentilla anserina Silverweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Potentilla reptans Creeping Cinquefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Agrimonia       Belgian Lepidoptera
Agrimonia eupatoria Agrimony British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Agrimonia eupatoria Agrimony British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Fragaria       Belgian Lepidoptera
Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla       Belgian Lepidoptera
Potentilla anserina Silverweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Potentilla anserina Silverweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla reptans Creeping Cinquefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Potentilla reptans Creeping Cinquefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July, September - November (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Bedfordshire, Easterness, Huntingdonshire, South Wiltshire and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea).

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

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Agrimonia eupatoria, Fragaria vesca, Potentilla anserina, Potentilla erecta, Potentilla reptans

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidodea  
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Gnamptodon pumilio (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae
Mirax rufilabris Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Miracinae

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		 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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 Last updated 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page