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

 

Chyliza vittata Meigen, 1826
[Diptera: Psilidae]


Chyliza vittata Meigen, 1826. Syst. Beschr. 5: 369.


Leaf-miner: The mine begins as a fine corridor, descends into the leaf sheath or stem, re-enters from there a few more times in the blade. Pupation in the tuber. Ofen the inflorescence of infested plants will wilt. (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 de Meijere (1940b) and Vos-de Wilde (1935).

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:

Orchidaceae        
Cephalanthera damasonium White Helleborine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Epipactis helleborine Broad-leaved Helleborine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Epipactis purpurata Violet Helleborine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Neottia       Robbins, 1991: 130
Orchis       Pitkin in Plant and Pitkin, 2005

Hosts elsewhere:

Orchidaceae        
Dactylorhiza       Bladmineerders van Europa
Epipactis       Hering, 1957
Himantoglossum       Hering, 1957
Orchis       Bladmineerders van Europa
Orchis       Hering, 1957

Time of year - mines: June-July (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England and Wales including Warwickshire (Sutton Coldfield) (Robbins, 1991: 130); Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Monmouthshire, North Devon, North Hampshire, North-east Yorkshire, Shropshire, South Wiltshire, Surrey, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Pape, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including The Netherlands and Belgium (Bladmineerders van Europa), Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, ? Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Slovakia, Spanish mainland and Switzerland (Pape, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cephalanthera damasonium, Epipactis helleborine, Epipactis purpurata

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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