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 prunetorum (Stainton, 1855)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Scarce Sloe Pigmy

Nepticula prunetorum Stainton, 1855. Entomol. Ann.: 50.
Stigmella prunetorum (Stainton, 1855).

Leaf-miner: A contorted gallery filled with green frass (British leafminers).

Egg at the underside of the leaf, often close to a vein. The mine is a corridor, running in several half or whole circles around the oviposition site. Only the last segment breaks loose, and often runs along the leaf margin. The frass is greenish, lying in coils that are so wide as to almost completely fill the corridor (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). Bottle green. The larva is described by 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.

Comments: In the older literature also Crataegus and even Mespilus are mentioned [as hosts]. This is surprising, because the mines are so unmistakable (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Prunus       Pitkin & Plant
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Prunus armeniaca Apricot   Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus avium Wild Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus avium Wild Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus brigantina     Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus cerasifera Cherry Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus cerasus Dwarf Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus cerasus Dwarf Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus cocomilia     Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus domestica Wild Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus domestica subsp. insititia Bullace   Bladmineerders van Europa, as Prunus insititia
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus triloba     Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Carmarthenshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, Herefordshire and West Kent (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Prunus armeniaca, Prunus avium, Prunus cerasifera, Prunus cerasus, Prunus domestica, Prunus domestiva subsp. insititia, Prunus spinosa

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis amanus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Gnamptodon decoris (Förster, 1862) 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 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page