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

  

Fomoria septembrella (Stainton, 1849)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Hypericum Pigmy


Nepticula septembrella Stainton, 1849. Cat. Brit. Tin. Pteroph.: 29.
Fomoria septembrella (Stainton, 1849)
Ectoedemia septembrella (Stainton, 1849).
Fomoria septembrella (Stainton, 1849).

Leaf-miner: At first in a narrow gallery, later becoming a blotch mine (UKMoths).

Egg on the leaf underside. The mine begins as a long, winding corridor with a broad frass line that is red brown at first, black brown later. The corridor abruptly widens into a slightly inflated blotch where the frass lies concentrated in the centre and where pupation in a coccon takes place. In preparation the larva has cut a semicircular exit slit in the leaf underside, near what later will be the front end of the cocoon (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 Bladmineerders van Europa.

Ectoedemia septembrella larva
Ectoedemia septembrella larva
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

In a cocoon (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Clusiaceae        
Hypericum       British leafminers
Hypericum androsaemum Tutsan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Hypericum hircinum Stinking Tutsan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al.  
Hypericum perforatum Perforate St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Hypericum pulchrum Slender St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Hypericum x inodorum Tall Tutsan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Clusiaceae        
Hypericum       Belgian Lepidoptera
Hypericum bupleuroides     Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum caprifolium     Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum forrestii Forrest's Tutsan  

Bladmineerders van Europa, as rhodoppeum
Hypericum hircinum Stinking Tutsan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum hirsutum     Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum hookerianum Hairy St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum maculatum Imperforate St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum montanum Pale St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum nummularium Round-leaved St John's-wort   Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum perforatum Perforate St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Hypericum perforatum Perforate St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum serpyllifolium     Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum undulatum Wavy St John's-wort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum x inodorum Tall Tutsan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Hypericum xylosteifolium Turkish Tutsan   Bladmineerders van Europa, as patulum

Time of year - larvae: July, October - December (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Two generations, on the wing in May and June, and again in August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Fairly common in England and Wales (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Hampshire, North Lincolnshire, North Northumberland, North Somerset, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, Sardinia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in East Palaearctic and Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Hypericum androsaemum, Hypericum forrestii, Hypericum hircinum, Hypericum hirsutum, Hypericum x inodorum, Hypericum maculatum, Hypericum montanum, Hypericum nummularium, Hypericum perforatum, Hypericum pulchrum, Hypericum tetrapterum, Hypericum undulatum, Hypericum xylosteifolium

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Derostenus punctiscuta Thomson, 1878 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Sympiesis gregori Boucek, 1959 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Coloneura stylata Förster, 1862 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Colastes braconius Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Exothecinae
Gnamptodon decoris (Förster, 1862) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae
Gnamptodon pumilio (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae
Mirax rufilabris Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Miracinae

External links: Search the internet:

Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
UKMoths

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 Last updated 17-Oct-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page