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

 

Sphaeroderma rubidum (Graells, 1858)
[Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae]


Argopus rubidum Graells, 1858
Sphaeroderma rubidum (Graells, 1858)


Leaf-miner: Long corridor mine, without obvious relation with the leaf margin, with little frass and irregularly eaten out sides. The first part of the mine is full depth and makes a few close loops; the second part is upper-surface and considerably wider. Primary feedings lines often obvious. The larva is so broad that is completely fills the mine. No morphological differences are known between the larvae of S. rubidum and those of S. testaceum (Steinhausen, 1994a). The larva leaves the mine to pupate in the soil (the larva of testaceum hibernates in the mine.) Hering (1957a) suggests that the imagines are easily separated, but this is contradicted by Warchalowski (2003a). (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larvae of beetles have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles and lack abdominal legs (see examples).

According to Cox (2007a) both S. rubidum and S. testaceum hibernate as larvae! (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Pupa: The pupae of beetles have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Arctium   Dave Hubble, pers. comm.    
Carduus pycnocephalus Plymouth Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Carthamus       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Centaurea       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Cirsium       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Cynara       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Cynara cardunculus Cardoon   Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Onopordum acanthium Cotton Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Serratula       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.
Betulaceae        
Corylus       Dave Hubble, pers. comm.

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae

       
Arctium       Bladmineerders van Europa
Carduus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Centaurea jacea     Bladmineerders van Europa
Cynara scolymus Brown Knapweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Serratula       Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: Larvae in September-November or even later (Hering, 1957a).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sussex, Fife, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Linlithgow, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, North-east Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South Lincolshire, South Somerset, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, West Sussex, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in Ireland (InvertebrateIreland Online).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Balearic Is., Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Dodecanese Is., European Turkey, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - South, San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Audisio in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Carduus pycnocephalus, Centaurea jacea, Onopordum acanthium

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.



External links: Search the internet:

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist

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