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 crassiseta (Strobl, 1900)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Agromyza crassiseta Strobl, 1900a. Wien. ent. Ztg. 19: 63, as a var. of grossicornis
Cerodontha (Dizygomyza) crassiseta (Strobl, 1900a); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 100
Cerodontha (Dizygomyza) crassiseta (Strobl, 1900a); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 222. 224, 225 (fig. 843-5).


Leaf miner: Lower- or upper-surface corridor, possibly doubling one or two times, descends, sometimes as low as the leaf sheath. The gallery does not ocupy the entire width of the blade, runs along the midrib. Larva solitary. Frass as one big lump in the mine. Pupation internal (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.

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).

Brown, 2.5 - 3 mm; posterior spiracual 2 - 3 times as high as the distance between their bases (Nowakowski, 1973a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Cyperaceae        
Poa       Spencer, 1972b: 124

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        
Dactylis glomerata   British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Poa compressa   British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Uncommon. Kent (Stone Marshes) (Spencer, 1972b: 124); Cambridgeshire (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe, but uncommon (Spencer, 1990: 371) including Belgium, Czech Republic, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Poland and Spanish mainland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Host species unknown

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
Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


XHTML Validator Last updated 28-Mar-2018 Brian Pitkin Top of page