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

 

Cerodontha calamagrostidis Nowakowski, 1967
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Cerodontha (Poemyza) calamagrostidis Nowakowski, 1967. Polskie Pismo ent. 37(4): 648
Poemyza spenceri Nowakowski, 1967. Polskie Pismo ent. 37(4): 648. [Synonymised by Zlobin, 1985]
Poemyza tschirnhausi Nowakowski, 1972. Polskie Pismo ent. 42(4): 744. [Synonymised by Zlobin, 1985]
Cerodontha (Poemyza) calamagrostidis Nowakowski, 1967; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 354, 367, 368 (fig. 1377).


Leaf-miner: Lower-surface corridor; larva solitary. Pupation mostly outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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 larva is described by Dempewolf (2001: 122).

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).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Poaceae        
Calamagrostis       Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        
Alopecurus       Nowakowski, 1973
Alopecurus       Spencer, 1990: 354
Alopecurus pratensis Meadow Foxtail British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Calamagrostis       Nowakowski, 1973
Calamagrostis       Spencer, 1990: 354
Calamagrostis canescens Purple Small-reed   Bladmineerders van Europa
Calamagrostis epigejos Wood Small-reed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: June-August, rarely September (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Cambridgeshire (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Germany (Bladmineerders van Europa), Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden (Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in Canada (Spencer, 1969a: 128).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Alopecurus pratensis, Calamagrostis canescens

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus difficilis Griffiths, 1968 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Chorebus ninella (Nixon, 1945) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa maculipes Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae


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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