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

 

Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau, 1851)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Pea leaf-miner


Phytomyza horticola Goureau, 1851. Annls. Soc. ent. Fr. (2) 9: 148
Phytomyza horticola Goureau, 1851; Griffiths, 1967b. Stuttgarter Beitr. Ent. 177: 11
Phytomyza horticola Goureau, 1851; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 87
Phytomyza horticola Goureau, 1851; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 431-33, figs 751-5.
Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau, 1851); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 265, 266 (fig. 1005), and more.
Phytomyza horticola Goureau, 1851; Winkler et al. 2009. Syst. ent. 34: 260-292.


Leaf-miner: Mine linear, whitish, both upper and lower surface. Pupation internal, at the end of the mine with the anterior spiracles projecting through the epidermis (Spencer, 1976: 433).

Upper-surface, less often lower-surface corridor. Frass in isolated grains. Pupation within the mine, in a, usually lower-surface, puparial chamber (Bladmineerders van Europa).

A long whitish upper surface corridor, which eventually goes lower surface (British leafminers).

Larva: The larvae of flies are leg-less maggots without a head capsule (see examples). They never have thoracic or abdominal legs. They do not have chewing mouthparts, although they do have a characteristic cephalo-pharyngeal skeleton (see examples), usually visible internally through the body wall.

The larvae is described by Dempewolf (2001: 202).

Puparium: The puparia of flies are formed within the hardened last larval skin or puparium and as a result sheaths enclosing head appendages, wings and legs are not visible externally (see examples).

Whitish (Spencer, 1976: 433). The anterior spiracles penetrate the plant epidermis as a pair of tiny hooks (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in the Encyclopedia of Life.

Comments: Two highly polyphagous species of Chromatomyia, with indistinguishable mines, have been recorded on Asteraceae in Britain. These are syngenesiae (Hardy), which is almost entirely restricted to Asteraceae and horticola (Goureau), which mines numerous plant families including Asteraceae. The two species can only be distinguished by the structure of the male genitalia.

British records of syngenesiae, horticola or 'atricornis' on hosts other than Asteraceae in Britain, except when the male genitalia have been examined (i.e. Dahlia), are assumed here to represent horticola.

British records of horticola and syngenesiae on Asteraceae hosts not based on examination of the genitalia of reared males are treated here as Chromatomyia 'atricornis'.

 

  Spencer, 1990: 183
Gentiana asclepiadea Willow Gentian   Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentiana cruciata Cross Gentian   Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentiana lutea     Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentiana pneumonanthe Marsh Gentian British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentiana punctata     Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentiana septemfida     Bladmineerders van Europa
Gentianella       Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: July and August-September (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Currently unknown.

Distribution elsewhere: All confirmed records so far are from the mountains of central Europe (Spencer, 1990). Also recorded in The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, French mainland, Germany, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Switzerland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Gentiana asclepiadea, Gentiana pneumonanthe

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis pubens Delucchi, 1954 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis pubicornis (Zetterstedt, 1838) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus dagda (Nixon, 1943) Braconidae: Alysiinae


External links: Search the internet:

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist, includes centaurii and blackstoniae

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