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

  

Phytomyza corvimontana Hering, 1930
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Phytomyza corvimontana Hering, 1930b. Z. angew. Ent. 17: 448
Phytomyza corvimontana Hering, 1930b; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 73, 111
Phytomyza corvimontana Hering, 1930b; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 301, 304 (fig. 1171), 305.

Leaf-miner: Mine linear, frequently adjoining mid-rib (Spencer, 1972b: 73).

Upper-surface corridor; the start may be lower-surface. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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.

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).

Black (de Meijere, 1934a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1991: 115
Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 111

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 301
Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: October.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Middlesex (Scratch Wood), Westmorland (Grasmere), Perthshire (Killin) (Spencer, 1972b: 73) and Warwickshire (Alvecote) (Robbins, 1991: 115).

Distribution elsewhere: Europe (Spencer, 1990: 305) including The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), French mainland, Germany, Lithuania and Poland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Achillea ptarmica

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus alecto (Morley, 1924) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa maculipes Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa melicerta (Nixon, 1954) 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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