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 scutellata (Fallén, 1823)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Agromyza scutellata Fallén, 1823a. Agromyzides Sveciae : 7
Metopomyza scutellata (Fallén, 1823a); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 286, figs 512-4.
Metopomyza scutellata (Fallén, 1823a); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 347, 348 (figs 1310-1), 351.


Leaf-miner: Upper-surface corridor, descending towards the leaf base, generally following the midrib. Frass in a double row of granules. Pupation outside the mine (Robbins, 1991), see also 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).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Cyperaceae        
Carex       Spencer, 1972b: 122
Carex       Robbins, 1991: 134

Hosts elsewhere:

Cyperaceae

       
Carex       Spencer, 1976: 286
Carex       Bladmineerders van Europa
Carex sylvatica Wood-sedge British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 351

Time of year - mines: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: May and July.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Dorset (Studland), Suffolk (Aldeburgh), Elgin (Culbin Sands) (Spencer, 1972, as flavoscutellaris) and Warwickshire (Ufton Fields) (Robbins, 1991: 134).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Finland, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 286), Germany (Spencer, 1990: 247; Spencer, 1976: 562), Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Yugoslavia (Martinez, 2007 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Carex sylvatica

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Pediobius metallicus (Nees, 1834) Eulophidae: Entedoninae


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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Last updated 09-Nov-2017 Brian Pitkin