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

 

Hexomyza sarothamni (Hendel, 1923)
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Melanagromyza sarothamni Hendel, 1923b. Konowia 2: 143
Hexomyza sarothamni (Hendel, 1923b); Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 14 (figs 8-10), 15, 118
Hexomyza sarothamni (Hendel, 1923b); Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 35, fig. 10.
Hexomyza sarothamni (Hendel, 1923b); Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 113, 135, 138 (figs 519-521), 139, 145, 251, 320, 404.


Gall: A slender twig gall up to 25 x 8 mm with a single chamber (see Redfern et al., 2002: 320, fig. 260).

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).

Greyish black (see Redfern et al., 2002: 320, fig. 261).

Adults: The adults, including the halteres, are uniformly black, as in other British species of Hexomyza.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fabaceae        
Cytisus scoparius Broom British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 118, as Sarothamnus

Hosts elsewhere:

Fabaceae        
Cytisus scoparius Broom British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 139, as Sarothamnus
? Genista aetnensis ? Mount Etna Broom   Spencer, 1990: 139

Time of year - galls: May-June.

Time of year - adults: June.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Berkshire (Silwood Park) (Spencer, 1990: 139).

Distribution elsewhere: Western Europe including Austria, Sicily (Spencer, 1990: 139), Czech Republic, Germany, Spanish mainland and The Netherlands (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cytisus scoparius, ? Genista aetnensis

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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