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

  

Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924. Tijdschr. Ent. 67: 142
Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924; Hendel, 1931. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 209
Liriomyza brunneicornis Hering, 1936. 74. [Synonymised by Spencer, 1976: 232]
Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 52
Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 232, figs 393-5.
Liriomyza artemisicola de Meijere, 1924; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 300 (fig, 1150-1), 301.

Leaf-miner: A short rather broad linear mine, usually confined to a single leaf segment. Pupation external (Spencer, 1976: 232).

Upper-surface short and broad corridor, or more often a secondary blotch, normally restricted to the tip of one leaf segment. Frass in strings. The yellow larva leaves the mine before pupation. Feeding punctures lower-surface (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Forms compact, very convoluted mines, with stringy frass (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 larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

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).

Orange; posterior spiracles each with 3 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 232). The puparium is illustrated in British leafminers.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Artemisia       Robbins, 1983: 24
Artemisia verlotiorum Chinese Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1991: 118
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 111

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Artemisia absinthium Wormwood British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Artemisia laxa     Bladmineerders van Europa
Artemisia nana     Bladmineerders van Europa
Artemisia steveniana     Bladmineerders van Europa
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 232
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 301

Time of year - mines: June-November.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread. Kent (Folkeston), London (Hampstead), Gloucester (Kilcot), Lancashire (nr Manchester), Denbighshire (Cefn-y-bedd) (Spencer, 1972b: 52), Warwickshire (Bedworth) (Robbins, 1991: 118), Hampshire (Fleet) (British leafminers); Cambridgeshire, Shropshire, South Lancashire and South-west Yorkshire (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland: Co. Wexford (Rosslar) (Spencer, 1972b: 52).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in central and western Europe, including Denmark, Finland, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 232), The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 554), Corsica, Czech Republic, French mainland, Lithuania, Poland and Switzerland (Martinez, 200 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia verlotiorum, Artemisia vulgaris

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis amyite (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus artemisiellus Griffiths, 1968 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Exotela melanocera (Thomson, 1895) 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		 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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