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

 

Ophiomyia aquilegiana Lundquist, 1947
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Ophiomyia aquilegiana Lundquist, 1947. Opusc. ent. 12(1-3): 74
Ophiomyia thalictrina Griffiths, 1963a. Entomologist's mon. Mag. 98 (1962): 128. [Synonymised by Spencer, 1964: 781]
Ophiomyia aquilegiana Lundquist, 1947; Spencer, 1964a. Beitr. Ent. 14: 781
Ophiomyia aquilegiana Lundquist, 1947; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 59-60, figs 56-7
Ophiomyia aquilegiana Lundquist, 1947; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 22, 23, 43, 46 (figs 173-4), 50.


Stem-mine: An external stem mine, with widely spaced grains of black frass. Pupation takes place at the end of the mine (Spencer, 1976: 60).

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).

Black; posterior spiracles each with 6-7 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 60).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Ranunculaceae        
Aquilegia vulgaris Columbine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 118
Thalictrum flavum Common Meadow-rue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 119

Hosts elsewhere:

Ranunculaceae        
Aquilegia       Spencer, 1990: 22
Aquilegia vulgaris Columbine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 60
Thalictrum       Spencer, 1990: 22
Thalictrum flavum Common Meadow-rue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 60

Time of year - mines: September.

Time of year - adults: Two generations a year.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Local. Huntingdonshire (Woodwalton Fen) (Griffiths, 1963a: 128; Spencer, 1972b: 29) and Cambridgeshire (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Germany, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 60) and Estonia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Aquilegia vulgaris, Thalictrum flavum

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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