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

 

Agonopterix propinquella (Treitschke, 1835)
[Lepidoptera: Depressariidae]

Black-spot Flat-body


Haemylis propinquella Treitschke, 1835. Schmett. Europ. 10 (3): 184, 280
Agonopterix propinquella (Treitschke, 1835).


 

Leaf-miner: The eggs of this species are laid on a leaf, with the larvae mining the underside of the leaf, until a late instar when it feeds in a web under the midrib of the leaf, causing visible blotching on the upperside (UKMoths).

Short, full depth corridor. The larva relatively long lives as a miner, but finally leaves the mine and continues living in spinning along the midrib at the leaf underside, from where windows are eaten in the leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Agonopterix propinquella on Cirsium arvense

Mines of Agonopterix propinquella on Cirsium arvense
Image: © Ian Smith (UKMoths)

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).

Larva with black head and prothoracic shield. Body, thoracic feet and anal shield apple green; pinacula grey (Bladmineerders van Europa). The larva is also illustrated in UKMoths.

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

The larva pupates in August, usually amongst the leaf litter, occasionally within the web. The pupa is illustrated in UKMoths.

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Asteraceae        
Cirsium arvense Creeping Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Cirsium vulgare Spear Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Asteraceae        
Arctium       Bladmineerders van Europa
Carduus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Centaurea       Bladmineerders van Europa
Cirsium arvense Creeping Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Cirsium arvense Creeping Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cirsium vulgare Spear Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Cirsium vulgare Spear Thistle British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cynara       Bladmineerders van Europa
Mycelis muralis Wall Lettuce British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Serratula       Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July until early August (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: The adults emerge in a single generation in September and hibernate through the winter, re-emerging in spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: England, Wales and southern Scotland (UKMoths) including Lancashire (Greater Manchester, Chorlton) (UKMoths); Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Leicestershire, North Essex, North Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Lancashire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland, Wigtownshire and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas) and the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea).

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad Region, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East, Northwest and South, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Cirsium arvense, Cirsium vulgare, Mycelis muralis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Spinola, 1808 Braconidae: Braconinae
Dolichogenidea emarginata (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae


External links: Search the internet:

Belgian Lepidoptera
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Bladmineerders van Europa
British leafminers
Encyclopedia of Life
Fauna Europaea
NBN Atlas
NHM UK Checklist
UKMoths

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Last updated 15-Oct-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page