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

 

Trachys subglaber Rey, 1891
[Coleoptera : Buprestidae]


Trachys subglaber Rey, 1891


Comment: Since compiling this page, Trachys troglodytes has been recognised as comprising two species - Trachys troglodytes, from E. Kent, W. Kent, W. Suffolk and Trachys subglaber (Rey, 1891) from W. Cornwall, E. Cornwall, S. Devon, S. Wiltshire, Dorset, Isle of Wight, S. Hants, W. Sussex, E. Sussex, E. Kent, S. Essex, Hertfordshire, E. Suffolk, E. Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, E. Gloucestershire, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, S.E. Yorkshire, N.E. Yorkshire. The two species are distinguished by the male aedeagus.

Bílý (2002) says that T. subglaber is probably monophagous and the larvae mine the leaves of devil's-bit scabious Succisa pratensis, and that T. troglodytes larvae mine the leaves of Knautia spp. including field scabious K. arvensis and Scabiosa
spp. including small scabious Scabiosa columbaria. Bílý says that T. subglaber prefers wet meadows or marshes in lowland and warm escarpments, whilst T. troglodytes prefers steppes, rocky slopes and uncultivated meadows. This habitat
difference presumably partly reflects the preferred habitat of the host plants and would suggest that in Britain T. troglodytes is likely to be found in drier habitats than T. subglaber. However, since the habitats of the putative hosts in Britain are not entirely exclusive, both species might occur together. In Britain most reported host records of T. troglodytes s. lat. are from devil's-bit scabious. Specimens I have examined found in association with this plant are in fact T. subglaber. The larval hosts of T. troglodytes are not known with certainty in Britain but Knautia arvensis which is common in the Breckland of E. Anglia and on the chalk grassland of Kent is the most likely host (Levey, B. 2012. The Coleopterist 21(2): 67-72).

Leaf-miner: Probably indistinguishable from the mine of T. troglodytes, which is a full depth, transparent blotch. Oviposition site, at the leaf upper surface, covered by a brownish black drop of hardened secretion. Frass in granules or thread fragments (Bladmineerders van Europa). The mine is illutrated in British Leafminers.

Larva: The larvae of beetles have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles and lack abdominal legs (see examples).

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

Pupation in the mine, not in a cocoon (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Dipsacaceae      

 

Succisa pratensis Devil's-bit Scabious British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British Leafminers

Hosts elsewhere: Unknown.

Time of year - larvae: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Recorded in East Kent, West Kent and West Suffolk (Levey, B. 2012. The Coleopterist 21(2): 67-72). (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, European Turkey, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, Northwest and South, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine. Also recorded in the East Palaearctic (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Succisa pratensis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere: Currently unknown.



External links: Search the internet:

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British Leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea, as subsp.
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist

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