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

 

Elachista pomerana Frey, 1870
[Lepidoptera: Elachistidae]

Fen Dwarf


Elachista pomerana Frey, 1870. Mitt. Schweiz. ent. Ges. 3: 282.


Leaf-miner: The mine begins near the leaf tip and descends towards the base. The mine occupies the entire width of the blade. Frass initially scattered, later in an irregular central line. Fully developed mine c. 8 cm long. Probably the larva is capable of leaving its mine and restarting in another leaf. 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).

Grey-green, with a faint white dorsal line; head and prothoracic plate light brown (Bland, 1996a; Traugott-Olsen and Schmidt-Nielsen, 1977a) (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 not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Poaceae        
Calamagrostis epigejos Wood Small-reed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        
Avena fatua Wild-oat   Bladmineerders van Europa
Calamagrostis epigejos Wood Small-reed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Glyceria fluitans Floating Sweet-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Phalaris arundinacea Reed Canary-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Poa pratensis Smooth Meadow-grass British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: April and June, possibly also in August (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Cambridgeshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Huntingdonshire and South Northumberland (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Avena fatua, Calamagrostis epigejos, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea, Poa pratensis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis chlorus Graham, 1963 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis submutica Graham 1963 Eulophidae: Entedoninae


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 18-Oct-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page