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

 

Cricotopus tricinctus (Meigen, 1818)
[Diptera: Chironomidae]


Chironomus tricinctus Meigen, 1818. JOURNAL: PAGE
Cricotopus tricinctus (Meigen, 1818). Bland and Rotheray, 1994. Dipterist's Digest. 1 (1): 35.


Tunneler: Half-mine; a one cm long straight tunnel along the midline of the upperside of the leaf; larva rests in this retreat during the day, emerging to devour the upper epidermis of the leaf during the hours of darkness. Feeding occurs from both ends of the retreat to a similar degree (Bland, 1994a).

The larvae of a number of species of Chironomidae (non-biting midges) live in tunnels in decaying leaf sheaths under water. Their tunnels are open at both ends, and the larvae feed on particles they obtain from a water current they create in the tunnels. They do not feed on tissues of their 'hostplant' and therefore are not strictly miners (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).

Comments: Cranston in Chandler, 1978 (1978) did not indicate whether his host records were British or Foreign and are therefore tentatively included under 'Hosts in Britain' and 'Hosts elsewhere'.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Poaceae        

? Glyceria

      Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamogetonaceae      
Potamogeton (as Sparganium)       Pitkin & Plant
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed   Bland and Rotheray, 1994: 35, as Sparganium minimum

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        

? Glyceria

      Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamogetonaceae      
Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed   Bland and Rotheray, 1994: 35, as Sparganium minimum
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219

Time of year - mines: August.

Time of year - adults: August.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Isle of Coll (Grishipool) (Bland and Rotheray, 1994: 35); Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, Pembrokeshire and South-west Yorkshire (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Latvia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Russia - Central and North, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden. Switzerland and The Netherlands (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Potamogeton natans

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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