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 magdalenae (Klimesch, 1950)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Northern Rowan Pigmy

Nepticula magdalenae Klimesch, 1950. Ent. Nachr. Bl. öst. Schweiz. Ent. 2 :72.
Stigmella magdalenae (Klimesch, 1950).

Leaf-miner: A long thin linear gallery with frass in a thin line, sometimes broken. This distinguishes it form S.nylandriella, which never has linear frass throughout the mine. The gallery of S.magadalenae is also narrower than S.nylandriella. S. magdalenae can both be an edge miner or make a small mine in the leaf blade, or run along a vein (British leafminers).

Egg at the underside of the leaf, independent of the venation. The corridor is narrow from start to end, and compressed on a small space, sometimes following the leaf margin for a while, more often along a major vein. Frass in a narrow, regularly interrupted central line. In thick leaves the frass line is broader, and the corridor is shorter (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).

The larva is green (British leafminers; Emmet, 1983a; Schoorl et al., 1985a; Gustafsson and van Nieukerken, 1990a; 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 not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Amelanchier ovalis Snowy Mespilus   Belgian Lepidoptera
? Amelanchier ovalis Snowy Mespilus   Bladmineerders van Europa
Amelanchier spicata Low Juneberry   Bladmineerders van Europa
Cotoneaster integerrimus Wild Cotoneaster British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Cotoneaster integerrimus Wild Cotoneaster British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July - August (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland including Cheshire, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, South Aberdeen and Stafford (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

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

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Amelanchier ovalis, Cotoneaster integerrimus, Malus sylvestris, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus torminalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Gnamptodon pumilio (Nees, 1834) 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		 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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 Last updated 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page