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

 

Bucculatrix thoracella (Thunberg, 1794)
[Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae]

Lime Bent-wing


Tinea thoracella Thunberg, 1794. Diss. Ent.7: 88
Bucculatrix thoracella
(Thunberg, 1794).


Leaf-miner: The larvae mine the leaves at first, then create small feeding windows (UKMoths).

Small, full depth, hook-like corridor, usually in a vein axil, with a proportionally large larval chamber. The remainder of the mine almost entirely stuffed with frass. At the start if the mine an iridescent egg shell. The larvae soon leave their mine and start living free on the leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in British leafminers.

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).

The larva is illustrated in UKMoths and British leafminers.

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

The pupa and white ribbed cocoon are illustrated in British leafminers.

Bucculatrix thoracella cocoon
Bucculatrix thoracella cocoon
Image: Rob Edmunds (British leafminers)

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths (by Rob Edmunds) and the Encyclopedia of Life. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Tiliaceae        
Tilia       British leafminers
Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Tilia x vulgaris     Pitkin & Plant
Tilia x vulgaris     UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Aceraceae        
Acer campestre Field Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer platanoides Norway Maple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Acer pseudoplatanus Sycamore British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Aesculaceae        
Aesculus hippocastanum Horse-chestnut British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Betulaceae        
Alnus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula       Bladmineerders van Europa
Carpinus betulus Hornbeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Fagaceae        
Fagus sylvaticus Beech British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rosaceae        
Sorbus       Bladmineerders van Europa
Tiliaceae        
Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Tilia platyphyllos Large-leaved Lime   Bladmineerders van Europa
Tilia tomentosa Silver-leaved Lime British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Tilia x euchlora     Bladmineerders van Europa
Tilia x vulgaris     Belgian Lepidoptera
Tilia x vulgaris     Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July - August (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: June, and sometimes again in August in the south (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in England including Hampshire (Fleet) (British leafminers), Lancashire (Greater Manchester, Chorlton) and Norfolk (Holkham Park) (UKMoths); Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, North Essex, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Hampshire, South Lancashire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, West Gloucestershire, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Westmotland (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Acer campestre, Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Aesculus hippocastanum, Carpinus betulus, Fagus sylvaticus, Tilia cordata, Tilia x euchlora, Tilia platyphyllos, Tilia tomentosa, Tilia x vulgaris

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Pholetesor arisba (Nixon, 1973) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Diadegma crassum (Bridgman, 1889) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Eudelus pallicarpus (Thomson, 1884) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae
Gelis agilis (Fabricius, 1775) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae
Gelis melanogaster (Thomson, 1884) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae


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 10-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page