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

 

Phyllonorycter cydoniella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Red Apple Midget


Tinea cydoniella Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775.
Phyllonorycter cydoniella
(Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775).


Leaf-miner: Elongated, lower surface, tentiform mine with one strong fold in the lower epidermis. Pupa in a white cocoon, in which no frass in incorporated; all frass in a clump in the mine. Before ecdysis the pupa works itself out of the mine through the floor in the mine (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).

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

The pupa of cf. cydoniella is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

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

Comments: Reports from other hostplants (Amelanchier ovalis, Amelanchier spicata, Cydonia oblonga, Malus pumila (as domestica), Malus sylvestris, Prunus, Pyrus communis) may possibly be the result of confusion with other species ( Phyllonorycter anceps, Phyllonorycter hostis, Phyllonorycter mespilella, Phyllonorycter sorbi) (Triberti, 2007a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland: Not recorded in Britain. British mines previously identified as cydoniella are hostis(UKMoths).

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Chaenomeles       Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus sylvestris     Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus domestica Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: Currently unknown

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Not recorded in Britain. British mines previously identified as cydoniella are hostis

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Czech Republic, Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Portuguese mainland, Russia - Central and South, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Also recorded in Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Sorbus domestica, Sorbus torminalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis laomedon (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Pholetesor bicolor (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae


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 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page