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 subbimaculella (Haworth, 1828)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Spotted Black Pigmy



Tinea subbimaculella
Haworth, 1828 . Lep. Brit. : 583.
Ectoedemia subbimaculella
(Haworth, 1828).



Leaf-miner: The larvae mine oak leaves, initially in a gallery following a vein, then creating a triangular blotch between vein and midrib. It can be distinguished from the similar mines of E. heringi by the presence of a slit in the lower epidermis which allows frass and water to pass (UKMoths).

Oviposition on the upperside of the leaf, next to a vein. The mine begins as a narrow corridor, filled with frass, running along a vein: usually the midrib, or along a lateral vein and then running in the direction of the midrib. The corridor abruptly widens into a blotch, usually in the axil of the midrib and a side vein. The larva makes a slit in the lower epidermis of the blotch, by which part of the frass is ejected. Pupation external (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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).

Larva white, head and pronotal plate blackish-brown (British leafminers). The larva is also illustrated in 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       UKMoths
Quercus cerris Turkey Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Quercus petraea Sessile 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. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus frainetto     Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus macranthera     Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus pubescens Downy Oak   Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus pyrenaica Pyrenean Oak   Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus rubra Red Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Commonest in south-east England, the distribution expands north and westwards, though the exact distribution is unclear because of earlier confusion with similar species (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, West Cornwall, 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 (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Luxembourg, ? Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Castanea sativa, Quercus cerris, Quercus frainetto, Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens, Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus robur, Quercus rubra

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis acoris (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis amasis (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis argyropezae Graham, 1963 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus diallus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae


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

Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


XHTML Validator
Last updated 23-May-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page