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

 

Mompha locupletella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
[Lepidoptera: Momphidae]

Red Cosmet


Tinea locupletella Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775. Wien. Verz.: 141.
Adela pilipennella
Zetterstedt, 1840. Ins. Lep.: 1008.
Psacaphora quadrilobella
Herrich-Schäffer, 1854. Schmett. Europ. 5: 216.
Tinea schrankella
Hübner, 1805. Schmett. Europ.: 264.
Mompha locupletella
(Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775).


Leaf-miner: The mine is a whitish blotch with scattered blackish frass (UKMoths), usually low on the plant (British leafminers).

Oviposition on the basal part of the midrib. The young larva makes a number of short corridors radiating from this point, either in the same leaf, or on different ones; they have a central frassline, but their final sections are free of frass. Later an elongate blotch is make, also beginning on the midrib (although not necessarily its basal part). 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).

Mompha locupletella larva
Larva of Mompha locupletella on Epilobium
Image: © Robert Davey

Greyish green; head and prothoracic plate black (Koster, 2002b; Koster and Sinev, 2003a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Pupation in a white cocoon, which is attached to vegetation or leaf litter (British leafminers). See also Patocka and Turcáni (2005a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths (by Jon Baker) and the Encyclopedia of Life. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Onagraceae        
Epilobium       UKMoths
Epilobium alsinifolium Chickweed Willowherb   British leafminers
Epilobium alsinifolium Chickweed Willowherb   Pitkin & Plant
Epilobium lanceolatum Spear-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Epilobium lanceolatum Spear-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Epilobium montanum Broad-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Epilobium montanum Broad-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Onagraceae        
Epilobium alpestre     Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium alsinifolium Chickweed Willowherb   Belgian Lepidoptera
Epilobium alsinifolium Chickweed Willowherb   Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium lanceolatum Spear-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Epilobium lanceolatum Spear-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium montanum Broad-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Epilobium montanum Broad-leaved Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium obscurum     Belgian Lepidoptera
Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Epilobium roseum Pale Willowherb British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: April and May, then again in July and August (UKMoths).

Time of year - adults: The two generations of adult moths are on the wing from May to July and again in August and September (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Distributed widely throughout much of the British Isles (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Banffshire, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, Easterness, Fife, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, Kirkudbrightshire, Main Argyll, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, Outer Hebrides, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South Somerset, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Sutherland, Westmorland, Worcestershire and Shetland (NBN Atlas), the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, North and Northwest, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Epilobium alsinifolium, Epilobium lanceolatum, Epilobium montanum, Epilobium palustre, Epilobium roseum

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Apanteles atreus Nixon, 1973 Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Diadegma holopygum (Thomson, 1887) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Diadegma latungulum (Thomson, 1887) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Bathythrix prominens (Strobl, 1901) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae
Zoophthorus palpator (Müller, 1776) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae


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 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page