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(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)
by
Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds
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DIANTHUS.
Pinks. [Caryophyllaceae]
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Fifteen
species and hybrids of Dianthus are recorded in Britain.
These include the native Cheddar Pink (D. gratianopolitanus),
Deptford Pink (D. armeria) and Maiden Pink (D. deltoides)
and the introoduced Clove Pink (D. caryophyllus).
Deptford
Pink (D. armeria) and Cheddar Pink (D. gratianopolitanus)
are protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act,
1981.
Four British miners are recorded on Dianthus.
The
agromyzids Liriomyza
huidobrensis and Liriomyza
trifolii, pest species of ornamental and vegetable crops
occasionally intercepted at UK points of entry, have been recorded
on Dianthus. Both species have been found under glass in
England and Wales. All populations have been and continue to be
eradicated. See also Liriomyza species in Glasshouses and/or Quarantine Interceptions.
Although
previously recorded as a miner in stems Dianthus, Botanophila
fugax is a common saprophagous species, the larvae normally
feeding in the soil (G.C.D. Griffiths, pers. comm.).
No non-Diptera miners are recorded on Dianthus in Britain.
A key to the European miners recorded on Dianthus is provided in Bladmineerders van Europa. |
 Garden
Pink
Dianthus sp.
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Key for the identification of the known mines of British
insects (Diptera and non-Diptera) recorded on Dianthus
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1a > Leaf-miner |
2 |
1b >
Leaf and stem miner |
3 |
2 > Leaf-miner: A
white linear-blotch mine, the linear section sometimes not detectable
as it becomes enveloped in later blotch (Spencer,
1976: 162-3, figs 296-7).
Upper-surface,
less often lower-surface, corridor, followed, and often overrun,
by a large blotch. Even when the corridor is overun, it usually
remains recognisable in the frass pattern. The mine looks whitish
in the field. The blotch does not contain much frass, in the form
of small black grains, dispersed and stuck to the floor of the mine.
Feeding punctures upper-surface (always?). Pupation outside the
mine.
A common miner, forming a white linear blotch mine (the blotch may obscure the linear portion of the mine) in both native and garden plants.The mine is also illustrated in the Encyclopedia of Life. |
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On Agrostemma, Dianthus, Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Stellaria [Caryophyllaceae] and Atriplex, Beta and Spinacia [Chenopodiaceae] in Britain. Widespread in Britain and continental
Europe. Also Canada.
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Amauromyza
flavifrons (Meigen, 1830) [Diptera: Agromyzidae]. |
3a > Leaf and Stem-miner: Mine always arising from the leaf base or ending
in it, because the larva mines and changes leaves. Mine often broad,
irregular corridor like, often touching the midrib. At first corridor
often entirely without frass, later in the spring the mines are
often less deep, containing thick, irregularly deposited frass lumps. |
On ? Cheiranthus, Dianthus and ? Lychnis and ? Silene in Britain. Only recorded
in Warwick, Easterness and Surrey in Britain. Widespread in continental
Europe. Also recorded in the Near East and Nearctic Region.
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Delia
cardui (Meigen, 1826) [Diptera: Anthomyiidae]. |
3b > Leaf-miner: The
mine starts as a long, narrow, winding corridor running towards
the midrib, widening to a blotch. Usually upper-surface, but in
small leaves also full-depth parts may occur. The blotch has broad
lobes; in their ends most frass is accumulated in the form of green
patches or clouds. Sometimes several larvae share mine. Pupation
usually in the soil, less often in the leaf (and then generally
not in the mine itself but in a small separated mine, that may even
be made in the petiole). |

Mine of Scaptomyza graminum on Cerastium glomeratum
Image: © Jean-Yves Baugnée (Bladmineerders van Europa) |
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On
? Amaranthus, Cerastium, Lychnis, Myosoton, Nasturtium, Silene, Stellaria, Atriplex,
? Anthyllis, ? Lupinus,
? Medicago, ? Montia and ? Antirrhinum, but not yet on Dianthus, in Britain.
On Amaranthus, Lepidium, Moricandia, ? Rorippa, Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Corrigiola, Cucubalus, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Moehringia, Myosoton, Polycarpon, Saponaria, Silene, Spergularia, Stellaria, Vaccaria, Viscaria, Atriplex, Beta, Chenopodium, Obione, Salicornia, Spinacia, Anthyllis, Lupinus, Medicago, Allium, Montia, Portulaca and Antirrhinum elsewhere. Widespread in Britain and continental Europe.
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Scaptomyza
graminum (Fallén, 1823) [Diptera: Drosophilidae]. |
3c > Leaf and stem miner: Eggs
are scattered individually over the leaf upper surface; they are
only loosely attached to the plant. The egg shell has a honeycomb
structure. The larva begins with first mining one of the top leaves
completely out. Next the larva moves down to another leaf, by way
of a tunnel made in the stem. In this way several leaves are mined
out, completely and full depth. In the attacked part of the plant
the stem has become translucent; the damage causes the plant tip
to wilt. In the first mines almost no frass is to be found, further
down it is deposited in coarse grains. Pupation generally outside
the mine (Miles, 1953). |
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On ? Agrostemma, ? Arenaria, Cerastium, ? Dianthus, ? Gypsophila, ? Lychnis, ? Saponaria, Silene, ? Spergularia, ? Stellaria and Vaccaria [Caryophyllaceae], Atriplex, ? Chenopodium, Spinacia [Chenopodiaceae], Phlox [Polemoniaceae] in Britain. Also recorded on other hosts elsewhere. Known only from Warwick and West Ross in Britain, Europe, Japan, Canada and Alaska.
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Delia echinata (Seguy, 1923) [Diptera: Anthomyiidae]. |
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