Leaf-miner: The
initial gallery is soon absorbed into a blotch. The blotch is squarish
as the larva eats through the leaf parenchyma to the upper epidermis.
the blotch turns brown and care must be taken to distinguish these
mines from diptera - which can form blackish blotches (British
leafminers). The larva makes a small, lower-surface spiralling
corridor that soon gives way to a blotch that overuns the previous
work. Gradually the mine becomes deeper, and finally is locally
full depth. Only then the mine is apparent from above as some disconnected
brownish spots. On the underside the mine is larger, membranous.
The frass initially is in strings, but later it becomes a network
of thin threads. Pupation usually is outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).
Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).The larva is illustrated in British
leafminers and Bladmineerders van Europa.
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
Adult:
The adult is not illustrated in UKMoths (check for update). The adult is illustrated in the NHM Cockayne Collection. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae: August-September (British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: Currently unknown.
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Huntingdonshire and Isle of Wight
(NBN
Atlas).
See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belgium, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, French mainland, Germany,
Hungary, Italian mainland, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Russia -
Central, Slovakia, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Also recorded in
Near East and North Africa (Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
|