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

  

Elachista triatomea (Haworth, 1828)
[Lepidoptera: Elachistidae]

Meadow Dwarf

Porrectaria triatomea Haworth, 1828. Lep. Brit.: 535.
Elachista triatomea (Haworth, 1828).

Leaf-miner: Full depth gallery; the first mine is descending, but later mines generally are ascending (Robbins, 1991a) (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).

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

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Poaceae        
Festuca       UKMoths
Festuca filiformis Fine-leaved Sheep's-fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al.

Pitkin & Plant, as Festuca tenuifolia
Festuca ovina Sheep's Fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Festuca rubra Red Fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Poaceae        
Festuca filiformis Fine-leaved Sheep's-fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Festuca ovina Sheep's Fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Festuca rubra Red Fescue British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae:Body greyish yellow, head with a dark outline; pronotum with a pair of elongate, dark parallel sclerites (Hering, 1957a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: The adult moths fly in June and July, and frequent grassland (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: From south-east England to southern Scotland (UKMoths) including Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Caenarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Durham, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Northumberland, Shropshire, South Lancashire, South Northumberland, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

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

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Danish mainland, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norwegian mainland, Romania and Sweden (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Festuca filiformis, Festuca ovina, Festuca rubra

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Pholetesor viminetorum (Wesmael, 1837) Braconidae: Microgastrinae

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

 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

XHTML Validator
 Last updated 18-Oct-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page