Stigmella sakhalinella Puplesis, 1984
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]


Stigmella sakhalinella Puplesis, 1984.
Stigmella discidia
Schoorl and Wilkinson, 1986.


Leaf-mine: The frass is brown and in arcs, with narrow clear margins (unlike Stigmella continuella where the green frass completely fills the gallery) (British leafminers).

Oviposition on the underside of the leaf. Then a rather slender gallery, hardly widening, even towards the end. The corridor is not strongly contorted, not even in its first section; no browned spot in the leaf at the start of the mine. Sides of the corridor irregularly scalloped. The corridor mostly begins close to the leaf margin, often near the tip of the leaf. The coiled frass is brown or black, even in fresh mines; the frass fills most of the width of the corridor, but always leaves a transparent zone at either side. Pupation external; exit slit in the upper epidermis (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is yellow, brown head, and dark ventral spots (British leafminers).

Yellow; described by Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: Details unknown.

Adult: The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The genitalia are not illustrated by the Lepidoptera Dissection Group (check for update).

Hosts in Britain:

Betulaceae      
Betula     British leafminers
Betula     Pitkin and Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae      
Betula pendula Silver Birch Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula pubescens Downy Birch Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula utilis   Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in the southern half of England including Bedfordshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Middlesex, North Essex, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (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). See also British leafminers distribution map.

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 Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Central, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in 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:

Betula pendula, Betula pubescens, Betula utilis

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Unknown.



External links: Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Gateway
UKMoths
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Last updated 31-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page