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

 

Cricotopus trifasciatus (Meigen, 1813)
[Diptera: Chironomidae]



Chironomus trifasciatus
Meigen, 1813, in Panzer. Faunae insect. germ. Fasc. 109:18.
Cricotopus trifasciatus (Meigen, 1813).

Tunneler: The larvae of a number of species of Chironomidae (non-biting midges) live in tunnels in decaying leaf sheaths under water. Their tunnels are open at both ends, and the larvae feed on particles they obtain from a water current they create in the tunnels. They do not feed on tissues of their 'hostplant' and therefore are not strictly miners (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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.

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).

Comments: Cranston in Chandler, 1978 (1978) did not indicate whether his host records were British or Foreign and are therefore tentatively included under 'Hosts in Britain' and 'Hosts elsewhere', as is the record by Pitkin & Plant, which was previously assumed to be British.

UK Hosts:

Polygonaceae        

? Polygonum

      Pitkin & Plant
? Polygonum amphibium     Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamegetonaceae      
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219

Hosts elsewhere:

Nymphaeaceae        
Nuphar       Hering, 1957
Nymphoides       Hering, 1957
Poaceae        
Glyceria       Hering, 1957
Polygonaceae        

? Polygonum

      Pitkin & Plant
? Polygonum amphibium ? Amphibious Bistort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamegetonaceae      
? Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Cranston in Chandler, 1978: 219
Potamogeton       Hering, 1957

Time of year - mines: Currently unknown.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

UK Distribution: Recorded in Britain by Cranston (1978) including Anglesey, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, East Kent, South Lancashire, South-west Yorkshire, West Lancashire and Westmorland (NBN Atlas).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, French mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, North and Northeast, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden and The Netherlands (Saether and Spies, 2004 in Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Polygonum amphibium, Potamogeton natans

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
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
White, 1988).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Poland, north-west of [former] U.S.S.R. (White, 1988), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa) and Belgium (Leclercq and de Bruyn, 1991), Austria, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Russia - Central and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, Also present in East Palaearctic Region (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

? Cirsium palustre, Solidago virgaurea

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
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
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