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 nylandriella (Tengström, 1848)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Common Rowan Pigmy


Lyonetia nylandriella Tengström, 1848. Bidr. Finland. Fjar. Fauna. 1: 152.
Nepticula aucupariae
Frey, 1857. Linn. Ent. 2: 376.
Stigmella nylandriella
(Tengström, 1848).


Leaf-miner: A long sinuous mine, frass variable, which often follows leaf-edge (British leafminers).

Egg at the upperside of the leaf. The mine is a long, gradually widening corridor that often closely follows the leaf margin for a long distance. Frass at first in a broad central line, but soon it becomes coiled. Occasionally mines occur with linear frass throughout; such mines can be distinguished from those of Stigmella magdalenae because they are broader and less confined the a small space (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths.

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, head pale brown (British leafminers). The larva is illustrated in 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        
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
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam 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 domestica Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: There is one generation with adults in May and June (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread but localised distribution throughout the British Isles, being commoner in the north, along with the foodplant (UKMoths) including Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Easterness, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kincardineshire, Linlithgow, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Lancashire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Worcestershire (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, Belgium, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus domestica

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis nephereus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus curvineurus Askew, 1965 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Cirrospilus diallus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Coloneura stylata Förster, 1862 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Colastes braconius Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Exothecinae


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 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page