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

 

Stigmella trimaculella (Haworth, 1828)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Black-poplar Pigmy


Tinea trimaculella Haworth, 1828. Lep. Brit.: 583.
Stigmella trimaculella
(Haworth, 1828).


Leaf-miner: A gallery leading to a blotch (British leafminers).

Egg either at upper- or lowerside of the leaf. The mine is a corridor; the first part is rather straight and narrow, and often follows a vein for some length; the second part is much broader, sometimes almost a blotch. In the first part of the mine the frass lies in a more or less uninterrupted central line that does not occupy the full with of the gallery; in the second part the frass pattern is very variable, ranging from a narrow central line to a broad band (Bladmineerders van Europa). The mine is also illustrated in the Encyclopedia of Life.

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 greenish-yellow, head brown (British leafminers) and described as Light yellow and illustrated in 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 illustrated in UKMoths. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Salicaceae        
Populus       UKMoths
Populus x canadensis 'Robusta' Hybrid Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Populus nigra 'Italica' Lombardy-poplar   British leafminers
Populus nigra 'Italica' Lombardy-poplar   Pitkin & Plant
Populus x canadensis Hybrid Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Populus x robusta     Martin Corley (pers. comm to Rob Edmunds)

Hosts elsewhere:

Salicaceae        
Populus alba White Poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus angustifolia     Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus x canadensis Hybrid Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Populus x canadensis Hybrid Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus candicans     Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus x canescens Grey Poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus deltoides Necklace Poplar   Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Populus nigra Black-poplar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus nigra 'Italica' Lombardy-poplar   Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus simonii     Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus suaveolens     Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus tremula Aspen   Bladmineerders van Europa
Populus trichocarpa Western Balsam-poplar   Bladmineerders van Europa

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

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

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widepread in England, where it is fairly common except in the west (UKMoths) including Bedfordshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, South Northumberland, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Norfolk and West Suffolk (NBN Atlas). There are records from Scotland and Wales, but very few (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 Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Dodecanese Is., Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central and East, Sardinia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Also recorded in East Palaearctic (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Populus alba, Populus x canadensis, Populus candicans, Populus x canescens, Populus nigra, Populus nigra 'Italica', Populus tremula, Populus trichocarpa

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis nephereus (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Schimitschekia populi Boucek, 1965 Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius erythronotus (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Adelius subfasciatus Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Cheloninae
Adelius viator (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Gnamptodon pumilio (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Gnamptodontinae


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 12-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page