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 poterii (Stainton, 1857)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Downland Pigmy

Nepticula poterii Stainton, 1857. Entomol. Ann.: 96
Nepticula comari Wocke, 1862. Stett. ent. Ztg.: 253
Nepticula diffinis Wocke, 1874. Bresl. ent. Ztg.: 100.
Nepticula geminella Frey, 1870. Mitt Schweiz. ent. Ges. 3: 288.
Nepticula occultella Heinemann, 1871. Berl. ent. Ztg.: 215.
Nepticula palustrella Frey, 1870
Nepticula serella Stainton, 1888. Ent. mon. Mag. 24: 260.
Nepticula tengstroemi Nolcken, 1871. Lep. Faun. Ldv. Kuv. 2: 776.
Stigmella poterii (Stainton, 1857).

Leaf-miner: A gallery following the leaf-edge (British leafminers).

Egg generally at the upperside of the leaf, on a vein. The mine is a short corridor, no longer than 3 cm. Its first part is narrow and tends to follow a vein. The second part is rather tortuous and considerably widened, and often forms a secondary blotch. Generally only one mine in a leaf. Mines cannot reliably been distinguished from those of anomalella and centifoliella (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 of poterii is amber yellow, head brown (whereas aenofasciella is a pale watery yellow) (British leafminers). Dark yellow; the larva lacks a field of spinules at he rear of the pronotum, and on the mesosternum spinulation does not only occur on the rudiment of the foot, but also in two field obliquely in front. See Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a) for a description (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:

Rosaceae        
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Rubus chamaemorus Cloudberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Rubus chamaemorus Cloudberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sanguisorba minor Salad Burnet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sanguisorba minor Salad Burnet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sanguisorba officinalis Great Burnet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla anserina Silverweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla erecta Tormentil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla palustris Marsh Cinquefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Potentilla tabernaemontani Spring Cinquefoil British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus arcticus Arctic Bramble   Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus chamaemorus Cloudberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus saxatilis Stone Bramble British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sanguisorba minor Salad Burnet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sanguisorba officinalis Great Burnet British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Bedfordshire, East Sutherland, Hertfordshire, North Hampshire and South Wiltshire (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, ? Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Filipendula ulmaria, Potentilla anserina, Potentilla erecta, Potentilla palustris, Potentilla tabernaemontani, Rubus arcticus, Rubus chamaemorus, Rubus saxatilis, Sanguisorba minor (= Poterium sanguisorba), Sanguisorba officinalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Charmon extensor (Linnaeus, 1758) Braconidae: Charmontinae
Adelius erythronotus (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Adelius viator (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Centistes ater (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Euphorinae
Gnamptodon decoris (Förster, 1862) 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		 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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 Last updated 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page