Stigmella aurella (Fabricius, 1775)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]


Tinea aurella Fabricius, 1775. Syst. Ent.: 606.
Nepticula fragariella
Heinemann, 1862.
Nepticula gei
Wocke, 1871. Cat. Lep. Europ.: 336.
Nepticula nitens
Fologne, 1862. Ann. Soc. ent. Belge.: 164, pl. 2 fig. 5.
Stigmella aurella
(Fabricius, 1775).


Leaf-mine: A long gallery with dispersed frass (British leafminers).

Oviposition may be at either side of the leaf, not necessarily close to a vein. The mine is a not very tortuous corridor, not widened in the end. Frass in a broad central line. The mine strongly overlaps with the one of Stigmella splendidissimella (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths.

Larva: The larva is amber-yellow, head yellowish-brown (British leafminers). The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Pupa: The cocoon is illustrated in British leafminers and UKMoths.

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The male genitalia, but not the female genitalia (check of update), are not illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group.

Adult of Stigmella aurella
Littleborough, Lancashire
Image: ©Ian Kimber (UKMoths)

Hosts in Britain:

Rosaceae      
Agrimonia     British leafminers
Agrimonia eupatoria Agrimony Pitkin and Plant
Fragaria     British leafminers
Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry Pitkin and Plant
Geum     British leafminers
Geum rivale Water Avens Pitkin and Plant
Geum urbanum Wood Avens Pitkin and Plant
Potentilla erecta Tormentil Pitkin and Plant
Rubus     British leafminers
Rubus     UKMoths
Rubus     Pitkin and Plant (as f. nitens)
Rubus loganobaccus Loganberry Pitkin and Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Geraniaceae      
Geranium endressii French Crane's-bill Bladmineerders van Europa
Geranium versicolor Pencilled Crane's-bill Bladmineerders van Europa
Rosaceae      
Agrimonia eupatoria Agrimony Bladmineerders van Europa
Agrimonia procera Fragrant Agrimony Bladmineerders van Europa
Aremonia agriminoides Bastard Agrimony Bladmineerders van Europa
Fragaria moschata Hautbois Strawberry Bladmineerders van Europa
Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry Bladmineerders van Europa
Fragaria viridis   Bladmineerders van Europa
Geum rivale Water Avens Bladmineerders van Europa
Geum urbanum Wood Avens Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus caesius Dewberry Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus dumetorum   Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus fruticosus Bramble Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus idaeus Raspberry Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus laciniatus Parsley-leaved Bramble Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus plicatus A bramble Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus sanguineus   Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus saxatilis Stone Bramble Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus ulmifolius   Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: May-June, July-August, October-March (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: May and later in the summer (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: This species is probably the commonest and most widespread in the British Isles (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Ayrshire, Banff, Bedfordshire, Brecon, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Cheviotland, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sussex, East Sutherland, Edinburgh, Elgin, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardine, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Essex, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, North-east Yorkshire, Northumberland South, Nottinghamshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Devon, South Essex, South Hampshire, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire and South-west Yorkshire (NBN Gateway - N.B. includes Watsonian Vice Counties having publicly available records that fall within or overlap the vice county border at 10km resolution or better i.e. a record for a vice county may relate to an adjacent vice county - for included datasets see NBN Grid map below), the Channel Is. and Northern Ireland (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

NBN Grid map: Note that not all datasets on the NBN Gateway may be available on the map below. If you are an NBN Gateway registered user you can request access for missing datasets via the link 'Open interactive map in new window' below.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dodecanese Is., French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Lithuania, Madeira, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in the East Palaearctic (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

NBN interactive distribution map(s) of known host species in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere:

Agrimonia eupatoria, Agrimonia procera, Fragaria moschata, Fragaria vesca, Geranium endressii, Geranium versicolor, Geum rivale, Geum urbanum, Potentilla erecta, Rubus caesius, Rubus fruticosus, Rubus idaeus, Rubus laciniatus, Rubus loganobaccus, Rubus plicatus, Rubus saxatilis, Rubus ulmifolius

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae


External links: Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Gateway
UKMoths
Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


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Last updated 25-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page