Stigmella tityrella (Stainton, 1854)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]


Nepticula tityrella Stainton, 1854. Ins. Brit.: 304.
Stigmella tityrella
(Stainton, 1854).


Leaf-mine: A gallery completely without coiled frass (British leafminers).

Ovipisition at the underside of the leaf, in the axil of a vein. From there a corridor, that does not widen much, zigzags between two lateral veins in the direction of the leaf margin. Frass at first in a narrow central line. Later the frass becomes widely dispersed; it never lies in coils (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larva is yellow, dark head and prothoracic plate (British leafminers). The larva is also illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Pupa: Details unknown.

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

Adult of Stigmella tityrella
Chorlton, Greater Manchester, reared from mine on Fagus.
Image: © Ben Smart (UKMoths)

Hosts in Britain:

Fagaceae      
Fagus     British leafminers
Fagus     Pitkin and Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fagaceae      
Fagus sylvatica Beech Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: April and May, and again in July and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Anglesey, Banff, Bedfordshire, Brecon, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Easterness, Edinburgh, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardine, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Aberdeen, North Devon, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeen, South Hampshire, South Lancaster, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancaster, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (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.

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 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Karsholt and van Nieukerken in Fauna Europaea).

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

Fagus sylvatica

Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Cirrospilus curvineurus Askew, 1965 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae
Cirrospilus diallus Walker, 1838 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Hymenoptera: Eulophidae
Derostenus gemmeus Westwood, 1840 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 31-Jan-2012  Brian Pitkin Top of page