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 sorbi (Frey, 1885)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Rowan Midget


Lithocolletis sorbi Frey, 1885. Mitt. Naturf. Ges. Zürich.: 608.
Phyllonorycter sorbi
(Frey, 1885).


Leaf-miner: A large mine with a strong crease in lower epidermis. Leaf-edge often folded downwards (British leafminers).

Lower-surface, yellow-green tentiform mine with a few sharp folds in the epidermis. In Rowan the mine is parallel to the leaf margin, in Cherry usually between two lateral veins. The light brown cocoon lies in a wide cocoon, in which no frass is incorporated; all frass is accumulated in a clump in an angle of the mine. Before hatching the pupa penetrates the mine wall; generally the exuvium remains stuck halfway out of the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in UKMoths.

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 UKMoths.

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

The cremaster is illustrated in British leafminers and Bladmineerders van Europa.

Phyllonorycter sorbi pupa,  cremaster,  dorsal
Phyllonorycter sorbi pupa, cremaster, dorsal
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Chaenomeles japonica Japanese quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Prunus padus Bird Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Prunus padus Bird Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Prunus padus Bird Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Sorbus croceocarpa Orange Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus devoniensis Devon Whitebeam   Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus hybrida Swedish Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus intermedia Swedish Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Sorbus pseudofennica Arran Service-tree   Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Cotoneaster integerrimus Wild Cotoneaster British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Cydonia       Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus avium Wild Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus padus Bird Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus padus Bird Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Pyrus communis Pear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus chamaemespilus     Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus domestica Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus intermedia Swedish Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: April and May and again in August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Distributed throughout the British Isles (UKMoths), including Anglesey, Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Easterness, Edinburgh, Elgin, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Mid-west Yorkshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Somerset, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Lancashire, South Northumberland, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Perthshire, West Ross, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtownshire and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas) and Ireland (Fauna Europaea). This species is generally commoner in the northern half of Britain (UKMoths).

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, Belarus, Belgium, Corsica, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Moldova, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North, Northwest and South, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine, Near East and Nearctic region (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cotoneaster integerrimus, Malus sylvestris, Prunus avium, Prunus padus, Pyrus communis, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus croceocarpa, Sorbus devoniensis, Sorbus domestica, Sorbus intermedia, Sorbus torminalis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Achrysocharoides atys (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides cilla (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis laomedon (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis nephereus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis phryne (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Pediobius alcaeus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus lyncus Walker, 1841 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis gordius (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Coloneura stylata Förster, 1862 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Colastes braconius Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Exothecinae
Pholetesor circumscriptus (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Encrateola laevigata (Ratzeburg, 1848) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae


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 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page