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

  

Caryocolum alsinella (Zeller, 1868)
[Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae]

Narrow Groundling

Gelechia alsinella Zeller, 1868. Ent. Ztg. Stettin. 29: 145
Caryocolum alsinella (Zeller, 1868).

Leaf-miner: Initially mining the leaves, but later on spun flowers and seeds (UKMoths).

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).

The larva of alsinella has body yellow or light green, head black; pronotum reddish brown with a black plate; pinacula minute, black (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by Helen Bartock. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Caryophyllaceae        
Cerastium       UKMoths
Cerastium fontanum Common Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Cerastium semidecandrum Little Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Minuartia verna Spring Sandwort   Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Caryophyllaceae        
Arenaria montana     Bladmineerders van Europa
Cerastium arvense Field Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cerastium diffusum Sea Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cerastium fontanum Common Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cerastium glomeratum Sticky Mouse-ear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cerastium semidecandrum     Bladmineerders van Europa
Minuartia verna Spring Sandwort   Bladmineerders van Europa
Moehringia       Bladmineerders van Europa
Stellaria       Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: July and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: A rather local species, having been recorded from sandy coastal areas around much of the British Isles (UKMoths) including Dorset, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Mid-west Yorkshire, North Devon, North Somerset, South Hampshire, West Cornwall and West Sussex (NBN Atlas), the Channel Is. and Ireland (Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded from the Republic of Ireland. See also Ireland's National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Arenaria montana, Cerastium arvense, Cerastium diffusum, Cerastium fontanum, Cerastium glomeratum, Cerastium semidecandrum, Minuartia verna

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Copidosoma filicorne (Dalman, 1820) Encyrtidae: Encyrtinae

External links: Search the internet:

Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
UKMoths

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 Last updated 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page