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

  

Phyllonorycter insignitella (Zeller, 1846)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Clover Midget

Lithocolletis insignitella Zeller, 1846. Linn. Ent. 1: 193, t. 1 fig. 13
Phyllonorycter insignitella (Zeller, 1846).

Leaf-miner: Lower surface tentiform mine that occupies only part of a leaflet. In full grown leaves the mine is strongly inflated and is largely hidden by the leaf. Unlike other species the entire leaflet is not mined out (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).

Described by Gregor and Patocka (2001a) and Patcoka and Turcáni (2005); see also King and Murria (2002a). The pupa strongly resembles the one of Ph. medicaginella, but the 10th abdomen segment is clearly wider than long (as wide as long in medicaginella) and the cremaster spines are not notched just before the hooks. The constancy of these differences remains to be established (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fabaceae        
Ononis repens Common Restharrow British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Trifolium       Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fabaceae        
Lathyrus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Lotus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Medicago       Belgian Lepidoptera
Medicago lupulina Black Medick British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Ononis repens Common Restharrow British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Ononis repens Common Restharrow British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Trifolium       Belgian Lepidoptera
Trifolium alpestre     Bladmineerders van Europa
Trifolium medium Zigzag Clover British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Trifolium montanum     Bladmineerders van Europa
Trifolium pratense Red Clover British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Vicia       Bladmineerders van Europa
Vicia sepium     Belgian Lepidoptera

Time of year - larvae: July and September - October (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Britain including Durham (NBN Atlas).

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

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, Northwest and South, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine. Also recorded in East Palaearctic and Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Medicago lupulina, Ononis repens, Trifolium medium, Trifolium pratense

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Achrysocharoides insignitellae (Erdös, 1966) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis phryne (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Sympiesis notata (Zetterstedt, 1838) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Coloneura stylata Förster, 1862 Braconidae: Alysiinae

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

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 Last updated 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page