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 hybnerella (Hübner, 1813)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Greenish Thorn Pigmy


Tinea hybnerella Hübner, 1813. Samml. Europ. Schmett. Tin. 34: 236.
Stigmella hybnerella
(Hübner, 1813).


Leaf-miner: The frass linear in early gallery, widening to blotch with dispersed frass (British leafminers).

Oviposition at random point of the leaf, either at upper- or lower-surface. First a quite slender corridor is made, with a relatively broad, continuous, frass line, that always leaves a clear margin at either side; the corridor winds freely through the leaf. This initial corridor often abruptly changes in direction, widens into a blotch that mostly lie along the leaf margin. 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).

The larva is whitish (British leafminers).

Described by Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) (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:

Rosaceae        
Crataegus       British leafminers
Crataegus       Pitkin & Plant
Crataegus       UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Elaeagnaceae        
Hippophae       Bladmineerders van Europa
Rosaceae        
Amelanchier ovalis Snowy Mespilus   Bladmineerders van Europa
Cotoneaster       Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Crataegus laevigata Midland Hawthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus pentagyna     Bladmineerders van Europa
Pyracantha coccinea Firethorn   Hering (1957a)
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: End of May-June, August-September (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: April and May and July and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Common throughout the British Isles (UKMoths) including Ayrshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardineshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Essex, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland 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, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Romania, Russia - Central and East, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in East Palaearctic and Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Amelanchier ovalis, Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus pentagyna, Pyracantha coccinea, Sorbus aria, Sorbus torminalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis budensis Erdös, 1954 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis nephereus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Derostenus gemmeus Westwood, 1840 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius erythronotus (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Gnamptodon pumilio (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae


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 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page