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

 

Stigmella glutinosae (Stainton, 1858)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

White-barred Alder Pigmy


Nepticula glutinosae Stainton, 1858. Entomol. Ann.: 96.
Nepticula distinguenda
Heinemann, 1862. Wien. ent. Monats. 6: 305.
Stigmella glutinosae
(Stainton, 1858).


Leaf-miner: A gallery with frass partly dispersed, but sometimes in a thin line (as S. alnetella). The moths must be bred through to distinguish between this and S.alnetella (British leafminers).

Oviposition at the leaf underside. Then a full depth, fairly slender corridor, often several in a leaf. Frass line very variable, sometimes coiled, mostly more than on third of the width of the corridor. Pupation outside 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).

Yellow, with a grey-brown patch on the prosternum (Johansson et al., 1990a). The larva mines venter-upwards (Emmet, 1983a). Abdominal segment 1 ventrally not spinulose (Johansson et al., 1990a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Adult: NThe adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Betulaceae        
Alnus cordata Italian Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Alnus glutinosa Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Alnus glutinosa Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae        
Alnus cordata Italian Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Alnus glutinosa Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Alnus glutinosa Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Alnus incana Grey Alder British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Alnus subcordata     Bladmineerders van Europa
Alnus viridis Green Alder   Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July, September - October (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Essex, North Hampshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Essex, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, 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 (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, Sardinia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Alnus cordata, Alnus glutinosa, Alnus incana, Alnus viridis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Mirax rufilabris Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Miracinae


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 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page