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 pretiosa (Heinemann, 1862)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Water-avens Pigmy


Nepticula pretiosa Heinemann, 1862. Wien. ent. Monats. 6: 261.
Nepticula bollii
Frey, 1873
Stigmella pretiosa
(Heinemann, 1862).


Leaf-miner: The initial gallery has frass in an interupted black line (British leafminers).

Egg usually at the upperside of the leaf. The mine is a long, strongly vein-determined corridor. In the first part the frass lies in a rather narrow, often interrupted central line; further on the frass line is broader and more diffuse. Frequently more than one mine in a leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Mines of Stigmella pretiosa on Geum Image: © Duncan Williams (British leafminers)
Mines of Stigmella pretiosa on Geum
Image: © Duncan Williams (British leafminers)

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; 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        
Geum       British leafminers
Geum       Pitkin & Plant
Geum       UKMoths
Geum rivale Water Avens British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Geum rivale Water Avens British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Rubus       Pitkin & Plant
Rubus fruticosus Bramble / Blackberry   British leafminers
Rubus fruticosus Bramble / Blackberry   UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Geum montanum     Bladmineerders van Europa
Geum rivale Water Avens British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Geum urbanum Wood Avens British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus caesius Dewberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus fruticosus Bramble / Blackberry   Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus idaeus Raspberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rubus macrophyllus A bramble   Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: September-November (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Discovered in Scotland in 1990. It occurs at least as low as 50m in damp, shady riparian Birch and Alder woodland in Sutherland (British leafminers). Dumfrieshire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Geum rivale, Geum urbanum, Rubus caesius, Rubus fruticosus, Rubus idaeus, Rubus macrophyllus

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae


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