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

 

Liriomyza equiseti de Meijere, 1924
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Liriomyza equiseti de Meijere, 1924. Tijdschr. Ent. 67: 124, 141
Liriomyza equiseti de Meijere, 1924; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 56 (fig. 191), 58, 109
Liriomyza equiseti de Meijere, 1924. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 5, 6, 7 (fig. 7).


Stem-mine: Larva mining the stem. Pupation external.

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; posterior spiracles each with an irregular ellipse of 9-14 minute round bulbs.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Equisetaceae        
Equisetum arvense Field Horsetail British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 109
Equisetum arvense Field Horsetail British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1991: 19

Hosts elsewhere:

Equisetaceae        
Equisetum arvense Field Horsetail British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 6

Time of year - mines: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: Single generation.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Uncommon. Hertfordshire (Barnet) (Spencer, 1972b: 59) and Warwickshire (Combrook) (Robbins, 1991: 19).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Andorra, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in North America (Spencer, 1990).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Equisetum arvense

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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