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

 

Lyonetia prunifoliella (Hübner, 1796)
[Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae]

Striped Bent-wing


Tinea prunifoliella Hübner, 1796. Europ. Schmett. Tinea: 70.
Lyonetia prunifoliella
(Hübner, 1796).


Leaf-miner: The larva mines the leaves of various roseaceous trees, such as blackthorn and apple, forming a gallery leading to a blotch (UKMoths).

Eggs are deposited in the underside of a leaf, well away from the margin, often several per leaf. Around the oviposition site a cavity develops that in the end often leaves a hole in the leaf. Then a narrow, hardly widening, winding corridor, largely filled with a broad reddish brown frass line. The corridor abruptly widens into a wide, full depth blotch, that often lies against the leaf margin. The larva may leave its mine and continue elsewere, even on a different leaf. Note that the first blotch may already lie on a different leaf. Frass dispersed, in oval granules. Most frass is ejected through semicircular cuts along the outer limit of the blotch; part of it is often trapped in strands of silk under the leaf (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Forms blotch mines from an initial gallery (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).

Whitish (also head and thoracic feet), less slender than the one of L. clerkella. The larva is described by Grandi (1931a, 1933a) and Schmitt, Brown and Davis (1996a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

The pupal cocoon is suspended from silken 'guy ropes' and closely resembles that of L. clerkella (UKMoths).

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Betulaceae        
Betula       Pitkin & Plant
Rosaceae        
Chaenomeles japonica Japanese quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Crataegus       Pitkin & Plant
Cydonia oblonga Quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. British leafminers
Malus       Pitkin & Plant
Malus       UKMoths
Prunus       Pitkin & Plant
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Sorbus       Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae        
Betula       Belgian Lepidoptera
Betula pendula Silver Birch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Betula pubescens Downy Birch British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Rosaceae        
Chaenomeles       Belgian Lepidoptera
Chaenomeles japonica Japanese quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cotoneaster       Belgian Lepidoptera
Cotoneaster integerrimus Wild Cotoneaster British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cydonia       Belgian Lepidoptera
Cydonia oblonga Quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Mespilus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Mespilus germanica Medlar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus armeniaca Apricot   Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus cerasifera Cherry Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus dulcis Almond   Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus mahaleb St Lucie Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus persica Peach British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Pyrus communis Pear British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus       Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: Details unknown.

Time of year - adults: The adult moths fly in September, and overwinter, appearing again in the spring (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Formerly locally resident in parts of southern and central England (UKMoths) including South-west Yorkshire (NBN Atlas). See also British leafminers distribution map.

Rediscovered in the UK after over 100 years. The latest sighting of the moth was in Somerset in 2007 (British leafminers). but it has been recently (2015) recorded in East Kent by David Shenton.

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East and Northwest, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Betula pendula, Betula pubescens, Chaenomeles japonica, Cotoneaster integerrimus, Crataegus monogyna, Cydonia oblonga, Mespilus germanica, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus cerasifera, Prunus dulcis, Prunus mahaleb, Prunus persica, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus communis

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Apanteles corvinus Reinhard, 1880 Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Apanteles lacteus (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
Find using Google
Find using Google Scholar
Find images using Google


XHTML Validator
Last updated 11-Jul-2019  Brian Pitkin Top of page