Orchestes pilosus [Coleoptera: Curculionidae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

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

Orchestes pilosus (Fabricius, 1781)
[Coleoptera : Curculionidae]

Curculio pilosus Fabricius, 1781
Curculio ilicis Fabricius, 1787
Rhynchaenus pilosus (Fabricius, 1781)
Orchestes pilosus (Fabricius, 1781).

Leaf-miner: Oviposition in the underside of a vein, usually the midrib. Here an oviposition scar remains. From this point a small full depth blotch develops, of about one cm in diameter, at the leaf margin, mostly in the leaf tip. The initial part of the mine, a quickly broadening corridor, later often tears. Frass blackish-green, in short thread fragments, pasted to the upper epidermis. Pupation in the mine, in a globular cocoon, made from secretion that is produced by the larva itself (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is at the leaf margin and usually between two lobes (British leafminers).

Larva: The larvae of beetles have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles and lack abdominal legs (see examples).

The larva is illustrated in British leafminers and Bladmineerders van Europa.

Orchestes pilosus larva, dorsal

Orchestes pilosus larva, lateral
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

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

Inside or outside the leaf (British leafminers).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fagaceae
Quercus			British leafminers
Quercus			Pitkin & Plant
Quercus	cerris	Turkey Oak	Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fagaceae
Quercus	ilex	Evergreen Oak	Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus	petraea	Sessile Oak	Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus	pubescens		Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus	robur	Pedunculate Oak	Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: April - June (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Leicestershire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, North Essex, North Wiltshire, North-east Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, West Sussex and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas)

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Fauna Europaea) and in Ireland (InvertebrateIreland Online).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Bulgaria, Corsica, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central and South, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in the Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Quercus cerris, Quercus ilex, Quercus petraea, Quercus robur

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.


External links:	Search the internet:
Biodiversity Heritage Library Bladmineerders van Europa Biodiversity Heritage Library British leafminers Encyclopedia of Life, as Curculio pilosus Fauna Europaea NBN Atlas NHM UK Checklist	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 08-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin