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 rydeni Hering, 1934
[Diptera: Agromyzidae]


Phytomyza rydeni Hering, 1934a. Z. PflKrankh. 44: 68
Phytomyza (Napomyza) bohemanni Rydén, 1951b. Ent. Tijdschr. 72(1-2): 174, as a var. of aconitophila.Phytomyza rydeni Hering, 1934a; Spencer, 1972b. Handbk ident. Br. Ins. 10(5g): 95, 96 (fig. 324), 119
Phytomyza rydeni Hering, 1934a; Spencer, 1976. Fauna ent. Scand. 5(1): 490-2, fig. 861-2
Phytomyza rydeni Hering, 1934a; Spencer, 1990. Host specialization in the World Agromyzidae (Diptera) : 22, 43, 45 (fig. 168).


Leaf-miner: Larva forms a primary blotch at the tip of a leaf segment (Spencer, 1976: 491).

A brown primary blotch that may occupy an entire leaf segment. Frass dispersed. Primary and secondary feeding lines well visible. Pupation within the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Mine of Phytomyza rydeni on Ranunculus acris. Image: Willem Ellis (Source: Bladmineerders van Europa)
Mine of Phytomyza rydeni on Ranunculus acris
Image: © Willem Ellis (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.

The larva is described by de Meijere (1937) 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).

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Ranunculaceae        
Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1972b: 119

Hosts elsewhere:

Ranunculaceae        
Ranunculus       Spencer, 1990: 21
Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Spencer, 1976: 491
Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - mines: Larvae in July-August (Hering, 1957); mid October (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Banff (Glen of Drumloch) and Inverness (Nethy Bridge) (Spencer, 1972b: 95).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Denmark, Sweden (Spencer, 1976: 491), The Netherlands (Bladmineerders van Europa), Estonia, Germany, Lithuania and Poland (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Ranunculus acris

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea   
Chrysocharis entedonoides (Walker, 1872) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Chorebus fallaciosae Griffiths, 1967 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Dacnusa aquilegiae Marshall, 1896 Braconidae: Alysiinae


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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