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

 

Pegomya bicolor (Wiedemann, 1817)
[Diptera: Anthomyiidae]


Anthomyia bicolor Wiedemann, 1817. Zool. Mag., Kiel 1: 77
Anthomyia mitis Meigen, 1826. Syst. Beschr. 5: 183
Anthomyia rumicis Hardy, 1854. The Scottish Gardener 3(7): 203-7. [Synonymised by Bland, 2000: 11]
Zabia longipes Robineau-Desvoidy, 1851. Revue Mag. Zool. (3)3: 233
Pegomyza jynx Seguy, 1926. Encycl. ent. (BII) Dipt. 3: 44
Pegomyia cinereorufa Ringdahl, 1930. Ent. Tidskr. 51: 173, as a subsp. of bicolor
Pegomyia sapporensis Kato, 1941. Kontyu 15: 62
Anthomyia bicolor Wiedemann, 1817; Bland, 2000. Dipterists Digest 7: 11.
Pegomya bicolor (Wiedemann, 1817).


Leaf-miner: Large upper side blotch or blister mine, which can start with a short corridor. In small leaves the mine can be full depth in places. Often several larvae in a mine; frass irregularly scattered in large lumps. Pupation external.

The mine is illustrated in British Leafminers.

Large blotch, theoretically upper-surface, but often virtually full depth, often preceded by a short, broad corridor. Usually several larvae in a mine. The larvae can leave their mine and make a new one elsewhere. At the start of the first mine a small group of oval, whitish, egg shells. 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.

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).

The puparium is described by Stork (1936).

Comments: Ackland in Chandler (1978) did not indicate whether his host records were British or Foreign and are therefore tentatively included under 'Hosts in Britain' and 'Hosts elsewhere', as is the record of Pitkin & Plant, which was previously assumed to be British.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Begoniaceae        

? Begonia

      Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Begonia semperflorens Begonia   Pitkin & Plant
Polygonaceae        
Fallopia baldschuanicum Russian-vine   Andrew Graham (pers. comm. Rob Edmunds)
Persicaria maculosa Redshank British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH, as Polygonum persicaria
? Polygonum       Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Polygonum       Robbins, 1991: 69
Polygonum baldschuanicum Russian-vine British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
? Rumex       Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Rumex       Robbins, 1991: 70
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mike Ackland, pers. comm.
Rumex crispus Curled Dock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mike Ackland, pers. comm.
Rumex longifolius Northern Dock   Bland, 1992
Rumex obtusifolius Broad-leaved Dock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bland, 1992

Hosts elsewhere:

Begoniaceae        

? Begonia

      Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
? Begonia semperflorens Begonia   Pitkin & Plant
Begonia       Bladmineerders van Europa
Polygonaceae        
Emex       Hennig, 1966-73
Fagopyrum tataricum Green Buckwheat   Bladmineerders van Europa
Oxyria       Bladmineerders van Europa
Persicaria amphibia Amphibious Bistort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Persicaria hydropiper Water-pepper British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Persicaria maculosa Redshank British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa, as Persicaria maculata
? Polygonum       Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Polygonum       Hering, 1957
Polygonum       Hennig, 1966-73
? Rumex       Ackland in Chandler, 1978: 228
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Griffiths, 1982
Rumex acetosella Sheep's Sorrel British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex alpinus Monk's-rhubarb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex conglomeratus Clustered Dock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex crispus Curled Dock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex multifidus     Bladmineerders van Europa
Rumex obtusifolius Broad-leaved Dock British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: June-July.

Time of year - adults: August-September.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Inner Hebrides (Isle of Coll) (Bland, 1992), Warwickshire (Coventry and Sutton Park) (Robbins, 1991); Anglesey, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Dorset, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, Easterness, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntindonshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Devon, North Hampshire, North Wiltshire, Orkney, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, Souh Devon, South Essex, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Suffolk, West Sussex, Westmorland and Shetland (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Michelsen in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including The Netherlands, Belgium (Gosseries and Ackland, 1991; de Meijere, 1939), Andorra, Austria, ? Bulgaria, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Iceland, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Madeira, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Sicily, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden and Switzerland (Michelsen in Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Israel, Korea, China and Japan.

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Fagopyrum tataricum, Persicaria hydropiper, Persicaria amphibia, Persicaria maculosa, Polygonum baldschuanicum, Rumex acetosa, Rumex acetosella, Rumex alpinus, Rumex conglomeratus, Rumex crispus, Rumex longifolius, Rumex obtusifolius

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Phaenocarpa ruficeps (Nees, 1812) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Biosteres carbonarius (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Opiinae
Biosteres haemorrhoeus (Haliday, 1837) Braconidae: Opiinae
Diachasma fulgidum (Haliday, 1837) Braconidae: Opiinae
Eurytenes abnormis (Wesmael, 1835) Braconidae: Opiinae
Opius pallipes Wesmael, 1835 Braconidae: Opiinae


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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