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

 

Trifurcula cryptella (Stainton, 1856)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Wood Lotus Pigmy


Nepticula cryptella Stainton, 1856. Entomol. Ann.: ?
Trifurcula cryptella
(Stainton, 1856).


Leaf-miner: An initial gallery, which usually follows the leaf margin. Then forms a blotch, mining from the leaf base to the tip. The presence of a pupa in the mine is unusual for this species and may indicate parasitism (British leafminers).

Oviposition on the leaf underside. The mine begins as a long corridor with a very broad, green frass line. This corridor suddenly widens into a broad blotch, that in the end may occupy almost an entire leaflet. The blotch generally begins in the leaf base, and it is here that most frass is concentrated. Shortly before pupation the larva leaves its mine through an exit slit in the lower epidermis. After the mine has been vacated the leaflet drops off (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 pale yellow, with a pale brown head (British leafminers).

The larva is pale yellow, looks green in the mine; it lies dorsum upwards. The larva is described by Johansson et al. (1990a); thorax dorsally with 13, 11, and 9 pairs of setae per segment, respectively (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:

Fabaceae        
Lotus       British leafminers
Lotus corniculatus Common Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Lotus corniculatus Common Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Lotus pendunculatus Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Lotus pedunculatus Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al.

Pitkin & Plant, as Lotus uliginosus

Hosts elsewhere:

Fabaceae        
Anthyllis montana     Bladmineerders van Europa
Coronilla coronata     Bladmineerders van Europa
Coronilla emerus Scorpion Senna   Bladmineerders van Europa
Coronilla emerus subsp. emeroides     Bladmineerders van Europa
Hippocrepis comosa Horseshoe Vetch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Lotus corniculatus Common Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Lotus subbiflorus Hairy Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa, as Lotus hispidus
Lotus pedunculatus Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Lotus pedunculatus Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa, as Lotus uliginosus
Securigera varia Crown Vetch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa, as Coronilla varia

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

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Dorset, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, North Essex, North Somerset, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South-west Yorkshire and West Norfolk (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, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, ? Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Coronilla coronata, Coronilla emerus, Hippocrepis comosa, Lotus corniculatus, Lotus pedunculatus, Lotus subbiflorus, Lotus pedunculatus, Securigera varia

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae


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 09-Jun-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page