Metopomyza flavonotata [Diptera: Agromyzidae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

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

Metopomyza flavonotata (Haliday, 1833)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Agromyza flavonotata Haliday, 1833. Ent. Mag. 1: 173
Agromyza flavonotata Haliday, 1833; Hendel, 1931. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 221.
Agromyza flavoscutellaris Zetterstedt, 1838; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. X 5(g): 59 (fig. 197), 60, 122. [Misidentification]
Metopomyza flavonotata (Haliday, 1833); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 280-1, fig. 503.

Leaf-miner: Upper surface, deep, narrow mine; frass in two regular rows; pupation external (Spencer, 1972b: 60, as flavoscutellaris).

A short, descending corridor in a leaf sheath. Fress in few, isolated blad granules. Pupation 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 de Meijere (1941) and illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

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).

Brownish yellow (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Cyperaceae
Carex				Spencer, 1972b: 122, as flavoscutellaris

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae
Alopecurus	pratensis	Meadow Foxtail	Bladmineerders van Europa
Deschampsia	cespitosa	Hair-grass	Bladmineerders van Europa
Holcus	mollis	Creeping Soft-grass	Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Not uncommon in meadows in early summer (Spencer, 1972b: 60).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in south. Dorset (Studland), Suffolk (Aldeburgh), Derbyshire (Miller's Dale), Elgin (Culbin Sands), Dunbartonshire (Bonhill) (Spencer, 1972b: 60, as flavoscutellaris); Cambridgeshire, Dumfriesshire, East Suffolk, Easterness, Glamorgan, Huntingdonshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, North-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire and Stafford (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland: Co. Wicklow (Spencer, 1972b: 60, as flavoscutellaris).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Finland, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 281), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (Scheirs, de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1995), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 562), Austria, Belarus, Canary Is., Czech Republic, Estonia, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Spanish mainland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Alopecurus pratensis, Deschampsia cespitosa, Holcus mollis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available
Chorebus varuna (Nixon, 1945)	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	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 09-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin