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

 

Aulagromyza heringii (Hendel, 1920)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Napomyza heringii Hendel, 1920. Arch. Naturgesch. 84A(7) (1918): 149, as Heringii
Napomyza heringii Hendel, 1920; Hering, 1932. Fliegen palaearkt. Reg. 6(2): 285.
Paraphytomyza heringiii (Hendel, 1920); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 65
Paraphytomyza heringii (Hendel, 1920); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 315-6, figs 566-9.
Paraphytomyza heringii (Hendel, 1920); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 214, 219 (figs 818-20), 220.
Aulagromyza heringii (Hendel, 1920)


Leaf-miner: A short linear-blotch mine, beginning with a small yellowish-brown pustule. Pupation external (Spencer, 1976: 315, 317 (fig. 569)).

Greenish, later blackish, tortuous or irregularly star-shaped, upper-surface corridor, rather strongly widening in the end, and usually forming a secondary blotch. Frass in the first part of the mine in two ill-defined rows. Primary and secondary feeding lines present, but short and criss-cross. Pupation within the mine; the anterior spiracles penetrate the upper epidermis (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is an upper surface linear mine, becoming a blotch, with two rows of frass (British leafminers).

Larva: The larvae of flies are leg-less maggots without a head capsule (see examples). They never have thoracic or abdominal legs. They do not have chewing mouthparts, although they do have a characteristic cephalo-pharyngeal skeleton (see examples), usually visible internally through the body wall.

The larva is described by de Meijere (1938), Allen (1958), Dempewolf (2001: 167) and illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Puparium: The puparia of flies are formed within the hardened last larval skin or puparium and as a result sheaths enclosing head appendages, wings and legs are not visible externally (see examples).

Yellowish-brown; posterior spiracles each with an ellipse of some 20 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 315). The puparium is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

Orchestes fagi larva,  dorsal
Aulagromyza heringii puparium
Image: © Willem Ellis (Bladmineerders van Europa)

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Oleaceae        
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 117

Hosts elsewhere:

Oleaceae        
Fraxinus       Spencer, 1990: 214
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 315
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Dempewolf, 2001: 167
Fraxinus excelsior Ash British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: November.

Time of year - adults: Apparently only a single generation per year.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Recorded only from Surrey (Reigate), Middlesex (Scratch Wood) and Hertfordshire (Brookman's Park) (Spencer, 1972b: 65), Glamorgan and West Gloucestershire (NBN Atlas).

Ireland (National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in western Europe including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland (Spencer, 1976: 315), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 562; Dempewolf, 2001: 167), Czech Republic, European Turkey, French mainland and Romania (Fauna Europaea).

Range extending eastwards to the Kirghiz Republic, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan (Spencer, 1976: 315).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Fraxinus excelsior

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis orbicularis (Nees, 1834) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis pubicornis (Zetterstedt, 1838) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis viridis (Nees, 1934) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Diglyphus minoeus (Walker, 1838) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Phaedrotoma rex (Fischer, 1958) Braconidae: Opiinae


External links: Search the internet:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
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Find images using Google


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