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

 

Aulagromyza tremulae (Hering, 1957)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Phytagromyza tremulae Hering, 1957. Bestimm. Blattminen Europa 3: 16
Paraphytomyza tremulae (Hering, 1957); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 65
Paraphytomyza tremulae (Hering, 1957); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 323, figs 584-5.
Paraphytomyza tremulae (Hering, 1957); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 81, 82 (figs 306-7), 93.
Aulagromyza tremulae (Hering, 1957).


Leaf-miner: A short, broad, irregular linear mine, exclusively in the spongy parenchyma, on underside of leaf. Pupation external (Spencer, 1976: 323, 325 (fig. 585)).

Yellowish, lower-surface corridor with irregular sides. Frass in fine grains, irregularly scattered. Pupation outside the mine, exit slit in lower epidermis (Bladmineerders van Europa).

A long winding lower surface gallery. The mine of A.populi is similar, but the pupation is in the mine in this species. A.populi mines are partly, sometimes fully, upperside, whereas A.tremulae mines are lower surface (British leafminers).

Larva: The larvae of flies are leg-less maggots without a head capsule (see examples). They never have thoracic or abdominal legs. They do not have chewing mouthparts, although they do have a characteristic cephalo-pharyngeal skeleton (see examples), usually visible internally through the body wall. The larvae lie on their sides within the mine and use their pick-like mouthparts to feed on plant tissue.

Anterior spiracles with up to 10, posterior spiracles with about 16 bulbs (Hering, 1955a).

Puparium: The puparia of flies are formed within the hardened last larval skin or puparium and as a result sheaths enclosing head appendages, wings and legs are not visible externally (see examples).

Yellowish; posterior spiracles each with a regular ellipse of some 20 minute bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 323).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Salicaceae        
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 65
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1991: 89
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bland, 1992
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers

Hosts elsewhere:

Salicaceae        
Populus       Spencer, 1990: 93
Populus deltoides Necklace Poplar   Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus x euramericana Hybrid Black Poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bland, 1992
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 323
Populus tremula Aspen British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: July-August.

Time of year - adults: April-May the following year.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including London (Hampstead), Surrey (Bookham), Buckinghamshire (Wexham) (Spencer, 1972b: 65), Lanark, Stirlingshire, Perths, Inverness, Inner Hebrides (Isle of Coll) (Bland, 1992), Warwickshire (Foleshill) (Robbins, 1991: 89), Hampshire (Fleet) (British leafminers) and Surrey (Weybridge) (British leafminers) and East Ross, Shropshire and Surrey (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Norway, Germany (Spencer, 1976: 323), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Denmark, Lithuania and Poland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Populus x euramericana, Populus nigra, Populus tremula

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis viridis (Nees, 1934) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus albipes (Haliday, 1839) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Opius pallipes Wesmael, 1835 Braconidae: Opiinae
Phaedrotoma staryi Fischer, 1958 Braconidae: Opiinae


External links: Search the internet:

Biodiveristy Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas

NHM UK Checklist

Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


XHTML Validator Last updated 09-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin Top of page