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

 

Phyllonorycter corylifoliella (Hübner, 1796)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Hawthorn Midget


Tinea corylifoliella Hübner, 1796. Samml. Europ. Schmett. Tin. 28: 194.
Lithocolletis betulae
Zeller, 1839. Isis: 217.
Phyllonorycter corylifoliella
(Hübner, 1796).


Leaf-miner: The mine is in the upper epidermis of a leaf, usually over midrib or vein. The mine is at first silvery, later with brown speckling (British leafminers).

Silvery, upper-surface, epidermal tentiform mine, centered over the midrib or a heavy lateral vein. Unlike P. leucographella, with which this species shares some host plants, the upper epidermis looks dirty by the presence of numerous fine black-brown specks of frass. The epidermis remains without folds until the mine becomes strongly contrated. Young mines look like a streak of silver on top of a vein (Bladmineerders van Europa).

The mine is also illustrated in 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).

Young larvae are quite variegated, because they have a black spot on each segment, which has almost completely disappeared in the full grown larva. See Grandi (1931a, 1933a) and Olivella (2008a) for a decription of the larva. The larva is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

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

The pupa is illustrated in Bladmineerders van Europa.

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        
Crataegus       British leafminers
Crataegus       Pitkin & Plant
Crataegus       UKMoths
Malus       British leafminers
Malus       Pitkin & Plant
Malus       UKMoths
Pyrus       Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus       Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus       UKMoths
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus devoniensis Devon Whitebeam   Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus eminens Round-leaved Whitebeam   Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus intermedia Swedish Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus subcuneata Somerset Whitebeam   Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Sorbus x tomentella   British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant, as Sorbus x vagensis

Hosts elsewhere:

Betulaceae        
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
Fagaceae        
Fagus sylvatica Beech British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Fagus sylvatica Beech British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Van Frankenhuyzen (1975a)
Rosaceae        
Amelanchier lamarckii Juneberry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Amelanchier ovalis Snowy Mespilus   Bladmineerders van Europa
Chaenomeles japonica Japanese Quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cotoneaster nebrodensis     Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Crataegus laevigata Midland Hawthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Cydonia oblonga Quince British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Malus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Malus pumila Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al.

Bladmineerders van Europa, as Malus domestica

Malus sylvestris Crab Apple British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Mespilus germanica Medlar British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus avium Wild Cherry British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus amygdaliformis Almond-leaved Pear   Bladmineerders van Europa
Pyrus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Pyrus communis Pear   Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Sorbus aria Common Whitebeam British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus domestica Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Sorbus torminalis Wild Service-tree British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Spiraea       Bladmineerders van Europa

Time of year - larvae: July, September - October (British leafminers; UKMoths).

Time of year - adults: Adults are at large in May and again in August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widely, but thinly scattered throughout the British Isles (UKMoths) including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sussex, Easterness, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Haddington, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kirkudbrightshire, Leicestershire, Linlithgow, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Ebudes, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, North Northumberland, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Hampshire, South Northumberland, South Wiltshire, South-east Yorkshire, South-west Yorkshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Surrey, West Cornwall, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Lancashire, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, West Sussex, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas), the Channel Is. (Fauna Europaea). In recent years it seems to have decreased in numbers, at least in the north (UKMoths).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Fauna Europaea and National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Dodecanese Is., Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, North Aegean Is., Norwegian mainland, Poland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Russia Central, North, Northwest and South, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine. Also recorded in Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Amelanchier lamarckii, Amelanchier ovalis, Betula pendula, Betula pubescens, Chaenomeles japonica, Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus monogyna, Cydonia oblonga, Malus pumila, Malus sylvestris, Mespilus germanica, Prunus avium, Pyrus communis, Sorbus aria, Sorbus aucuparia, Sorbus devoniensis, Sorbus domestica, Sorbus eminens, Sorbus intermedia, Sorbus subcuneata, Sorbus torminalis, Sorbus x tomentella

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Achrysocharoides atys (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides cilla (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides latreillii (Curtis, 1826) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides niveipes (Thomson, 1878) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides suprafolius Askew, 1974 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Achrysocharoides zwoelferi (Delucchi, 1954) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Asecodes erxias (Walker, 1848) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis nitetis (Walker, 1939) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis pubicornis (Zetterstedt, 1838) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Closterocerus trifasciatus Westwood, 1833 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Pediobius pyrgo (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus diallus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Cirrospilus lyncus Walker, 1841 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae

Cirrospilus viticola (Rondani, 1877)

Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Pnigalio agraules (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Pnigalio longulus (Zetterstedt, 1838) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ratzeburgiola incompleta Boucek, 1971 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis acalle (Walker, 1848) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis gordius (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis gregori Boucek, 1959 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Baryscapus endemus (Walker 1839) Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae
Baryscapus nigroviolaceus (Nees, 1834) Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae
Dibrachys microgastri (Bouché, 1834) Pteromalidae: Pteromalinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Pholetesor arisba (Nixon, 1973) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor bicolor (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor circumscriptus (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor laetus (Marshall, 1885) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Itoplectis alternans (Gravenhorst, 1829) Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae
Scambus inanis (Schrank, 1802) Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae


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