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(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)
by
Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds
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ARENARIA.
Sandworts. [Caryophyllaceae]
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Fringed
Sandwort (A. ciliata), Arctic Sandwort (A. norvegica norvegica), English Sandwort (A. norvegica anglica), Slender Sandwort
(A. serpyllifolia leptoclados) and Thyme-leaved Sandwort
(A. serpyllifolia serpyllifolia) are native to Britain. Mossy
Sandwort (A. balearica) and Large-flowered Sandwort (A. montana)
have been intorduced. The BSBI provide a downloadable plant crib for Arenaria.
Arctic
or Norwegian Sandwort (A. norvegica) is protected under Schedule
8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.
Six British miners are recorded on Arenaria.
A key to the European miners recorded on
Arenaria is provided in Bladmineerders van Europa.
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Key for the identification of the known mines of British
insects (Diptera and non-Diptera) recorded on Arenaria
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1a > Leaf-miner
and case-bearer: The larva lives outside the mine, protected by a case, and feeds on the underlying plant tissues via a hole cut in the epidermis. From that point it eats away as much leaf tissue as it can reach without fully entering the mine. Mine does not contain frass. In autumn the larva makes a short corridor, that widens into a small
blotch, out of which the first case is cut. The final case, after
hibernation, is a brown, tubular silken case, three-valved, c. 6
cm long, with a mouth angle of about 30°. |
On Cerastium and Stellaria, but not yet on Arenaria, in Britain and Arenaria,
Cerastium, Moehringia and Stellaria elsewhere. Distribution
in Britain unknown. Widespread in continental Europe.
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Coleophora
chalcogrammella Zeller, 1839 [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae].
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1b > Leaf-miner
and case-bearer: The larva lives outside the mine, protected by a case, and feeds on the underlying plant tissues via a hole cut in the epidermis. From that point it eats away as much leaf tissue as it can reach without fully entering the mine. Mine does not contain frass. Larva mines leaves of Caryophyllaceae. The
final case is tubular, 8 mm long, with a dorsal keel which forks
and continues as two ridges to the anal end of the case. The larval case is very distinctive when fully
grown as it is a pale pink colour and has a double dorsal keel.
Larva in a trivalved tubular silken case of 8 mm long, with a mouth
angle of 25°-30°. The case is pale brown. A unique detail
is the presence of a double dorsal keel, but this only occurs when
the larva is fully developed: the foremost part of the keel remains
single, but already the fork appears before the middle. |

Case
and mine of Coleophora lithargyrinella on Stellaria
holostea
Image: © Rob Edmunds (British
leafminers) |
On Arenaria, Cerastium, Silene and Stellaria in
Britain and Arenaria, Cerastium and Stellaria elsewhere.
Widespread in Britain and continental Europe. Also recorded in
the Republic of Ireland.
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Coleophora
lithargyrinella Zeller, 1849 [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]. |
1c > Leaf-miner
and case-bearer: The larva lives outside the mine, protected by a case, and feeds on the underlying plant tissues via a hole cut in the epidermis. From that point it eats away as much leaf tissue as it can reach without fully entering the mine. Mine does not contain frass. Larva mines leaves, forming a case from an excised mine. This case
is later extended, and widened by slitting the ventral side to insert
a gusset. The full-grown case is 8 mm long with a single ventral
keel.
Full
grown larva in a slender greyish white three-valved tubular silken
case of c. 8 mm; mouth angle about 45°. Often several cases
together on a small number of plants. |
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On Cerastium, Myosoton, Silene and Stellaria, but not yet on Arenaria, in
Britain and Arenaria, Cerastium, Myosoton and Stellaria elsewhere. The Isle of Wight in Britain. Widespread in continental
Europe.
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Coleophora
solitariella Zeller, 1849 [Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae]. |
1d > Leaf-miner, but not a case bearer |
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2a > Leaf and stem miner: Eggs
are scattered individually over the leaf upper surface; they are
only loosely attached to the plant. The egg shell has a honeycomb
structure. The larva begins with first mining one of the top leaves
completely out. Next the larva moves down to another leaf, by way
of a tunnel made in the stem. In this way several leaves are mined
out, completely and full depth. In the attacked part of the plant
the stem has become translucent; the damage causes the plant tip
to wilt. In the first mines almost no frass is to be found, further
down it is deposited in coarse grains. Pupation generally outside
the mine (Miles, 1953). |
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On
? Agrostemma, ? Arenaria, Cerastium, ? Dianthus, ? Gypsophila, ? Lychnis,
? Saponaria, Silene, ? Spergularia, ? Stellaria and Vaccaria [Caryophyllaceae], Atriplex, ? Chenopodium, Spinacia [Chenopodiaceae], Phlox [Polemoniaceae] in Britain.
Also recorded on other hosts elsewhere. Known only from Warwick
and West Ross in Britain, Europe, Japan, Canada and Alaska.
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Delia echinata (Seguy, 1923) [Diptera: Anthomyiidae].
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2b > Leaf-miner: The
mine starts as a long, narrow, winding corridor running towards
the midrib, widening to a blotch. Usually upper-surface, but in
small leaves also full-depth parts may occur. The blotch has broad
lobes; in their ends most frass is accumulated in the form of green
patches or clouds. Sometimes several larvae share mine. Pupation
usually in the soil, less often in the leaf (and then generally
not in the mine itself but in a small separated mine, that may even
be made in the petiole). |

Mine of Scaptomyza graminum on Cerastium glomeratum
Image: © Jean-Yves Baugnée (Bladmineerders van Europa) |
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Polyphagous. On
? Amaranthus, Cerastium, Lychnis, Myosoton, Nasturtium, Silene, Stellaria, Atriplex,
? Anthyllis, ? Lupinus,
? Medicago, ? Montia and ? Antirrhinum, but not yet on Arenaria, in Britain.
On Amaranthus, Lepidium, Moricandia, ? Rorippa, Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Corrigiola, Cucubalus, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Moehringia, Myosoton, Polycarpon, Saponaria, Silene, Spergularia, Stellaria, Vaccaria, Viscaria, Atriplex, Beta, Chenopodium, Obione, Salicornia, Spinacia, Anthyllis, Lupinus, Medicago, Allium, Montia, Portulaca and Antirrhinum elsewhere. Widespread in Britain and continental Europe.
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Scaptomyza
graminum (Fallén, 1823) [Diptera: Drosophilidae].
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2d > Leaf-miner: Initially
mining the leaves, but later on spun flowers and seeds. |
On Cerastium and Minuartia, but not yet on Arenaria, in Britain and Arenaria,
Cerastium, Minuartia, Moehringia and Stellaria elsewhere.
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Caryocolum
alsinella (Zeller, 1868) [Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae].
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