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

 

Phytomyza alpina Groschke, 1957
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Phytomyza alpina Groschke, 1957. Dt. ent. Z. (N.F.) 4(3-4): 122
Phytomyza alpina Groschke, 1957; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 76 (fig. 252), 80, 114
Phytomyza alpina Groschke, 1957; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 293, 296 (fig. 1136), 297.


Leaf-miner: Mine irregularly linear, long, towards end wide. Pupation external (Spencer, 1972b: 80).

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.

Similar to those of Ph. tussilaginis (Griffiths, 1972b); anterior spiracles with 14-18 bulbs, posterior spiracles with 22-36 (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).

Black (Spencer, 1972b: 80).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Senecio jacobaea Common Ragwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Mines in BMNH
Senecio jacobaea Common Ragwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 114

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Senecio       Spencer, 1990: 293
Senecio alpinus     Bladmineerders van Europa
Senecio jacobaea Common Ragwort British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Senecio subalpinus     Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: July-August.

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: A boreal-alpine species, not known south of Yorkshire. Yorkshire (Ingleborough), Perthshire (Killin), Sutherland (Golspie), Inverness (Holspie Point) (Spencer, 1972b: 80).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland: Co. Clare (Burren) (Spencer, 1972b: 80)

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Senecio jacobaea, Senecio subalpinus

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis viridis (Nees, 1934) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Dacnusa maculipes Thomson, 1895 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa ocyroe Nixon, 1937 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Exotela spinifer (Nixon, 1954) Braconidae: Alysiinae
Apodesmia similis (Szépligeti, 1898) Braconidae: Opiinae
Opius ambiguus Wesmael, 1835 Braconidae: Opiinae
Phaedrotoma exigua 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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2007 in Fauna Europaea).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including the Belgium (de Bruyn and von Tschirnhaus, 1991), Germany (Spencer, 1976: 370), The Netherlands, Luxembourg (Bladmineerders van Europa), Austria, Belarus, ? Corsica, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Turkey, French mainland, Iceland, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Madeira, Poland, Sardinia, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden and Switzerland (Martinez, 2007 in Fauna Europaea).

Range extending eastwards to the Kirghiz Republic of the [former] U.S.S.R. (Spencer, 1976: 370).

Also recorded in Canada and the U.S.A. (Spencer, 1976: 370).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cornus alba, Cornus mas, Cornus sericea, Cornus sanguinea

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis viridis (Nees, 1934) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Opius pulchriceps (Szépligeti, 1898) 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


XHTML Validator
Last updated 10-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin Top of page