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

  

Liriomyza demeijerei Hering, 1930
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]

Liriomyza demeijerei Hering, 1930b. Z. angew. Ent. 17(2): 443
Liriomyza demeijerei Hering, 1930b; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 53, 57
Liriomyza demeijerei Hering, 1930b; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 242-3, figs 420-421.
Liriomyza demeijerei Hering, 1930b; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 300 (fig. 1152), 301.

Leaf-miner: Generally associated with mid-rib or leaf margin and relatively long (Spencer, 1976: 243).

Upper-surface corridor, generally descending from the tip of a leaf segment toewards the centre along a vein or the leaf margin. Frass in strings. Pupation outside the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

An upper surface gallery of moderate length, mostly alongside a vein. The corridor is long and loose, with stringy 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.

Posterior spiracles of the larva with 3 bulbs (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Liriomyza demeijerei larva, lateral
Liriomyza demeijerei larva, lateral
Image: © Willem Ellis (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).

Yellow; posterior spiracles each with 3 bulbs (Spencer, 1976: 243).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Artemisia       Robbins, 1983: 24
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Robbins, 1991: 118
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 57

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 243
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1990: 301
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: Bivoltine: summer and autumn (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Uncommon. London (Hampstead) (Spencer, 1972b: 57), Hampshire (Fleet) (British leafminers) and Warwickshire (Coventry) (Robbins, 1991: 118); Cambridgeshire, East Suffolk and South-west Yorkshire (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe (Spencer, 1990) including Denmark, Finland, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 243), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 243), Czech Republic, French mainland, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Poland and Sicily (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Artemisia vulgaris

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Miscogaster maculata Walker Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Glyphognathus laevigatus (Delucchi, 1953) Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus artemisiellus Griffiths, 1968 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Eurytenes abnormis (Wesmael, 1835) 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		 Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google

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