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

 

Ectoedemia heringi (Toll, 1934)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

White-spot Pigmy


Nepticula heringi Toll, 1934. Ann. Mus. zool. polon.11: 1, fig'd.
Nepticula quercifoliae
Toll, 1936. Ann. Mus. zool. polon. 13: 71, fig'd.
Nepticula sativella
Klimesch, 1936. Stettin. ent. Ztg. 97: 208, fig'd.
Nepticula zimmermanni
Hering, 1942. Mitt. Dtsch. ent. Ges. 11: 26, fig'd.
Ectoedemia heringi
(Toll, 1934).


Leaf-miner: A gallery which leads to blotch (no slit in lower epidermis so the frass accumulates in the blotch) (British leafminers).

Oviposition on the upperside of the leaf, next to a vein. The mine begins as a narrow corridor with a broad frass line, running along a vein. Generally the corridor runs along the midrib, or along a lateral vein. In the latter case the direction usually is towards the midrib. The corridor abruptly widens into a blotch, containing much frass, laying against the midrib. Pupation external (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mione is also illustrated in the Encyclopedia of Life.

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).

Greenish or yellowish white, head and pronotal plate reddish-brown. The head is dark brown (British leafminers).

Translucent white with a dark brown head; no ventral plates. See Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) for a description (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. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fagaceae        
Quercus       British leafminers
Quercus cerris Turkey Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fagaceae        
Castanea sativa Sweet Chestnut British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Castanea sativa Sweet Chestnut British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus faginea     Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus macrolepis     Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus pubescens Downy Oak   Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus pubescens Downy Oak   Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus rubra     Belgian Lepidoptera

Time of year - larvae: October - November (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Dorset, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, Northamptonshire, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including ? Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Russia Central, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Castanea sativa, Quercus cerris, Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens, Quercus robur

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.



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 26-Jun-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page