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 spinicolella (Zeller, 1846)
[Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae]

Sloe Midget


Lithocolletis spinicolella Zeller, 1846. Linn. Ent. 1: 203.
Phyllonorycter spinicolella
(Zeller, 1846).


Leaf-miner: A mine with several creases in lower epidermis, causing the leaf to arch or fold over (British leafminers).

The larvae feed on blackthorn or sometimes wild plum. On blackthorn the mines are narrow and cause the leaf to pucker strongly, often folding right over, and being whitish, resemble those of the blackthorn-feeding Parornix species (UKMoths).

Lower-surface, strongly inflated tentifom mine bewtwwn to side veins. Lower epidermis with folds, green. Pupa in a white cocoon, frass in a mass in a corner of the mine. Before emergence the pupa works itself halfway out of the mine (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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 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.

Comments: Treated as a senior synonym of P. cerasicolella in Fauna Europaea.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Rosaceae        
Prunus cerasifera Cherry Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Prunus domestica Wild Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Prunus domestica Wild Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. UKMoths

Hosts elsewhere:

Rosaceae        
Prunus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Prunus cerasifera Cherry Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus domestica Wild Plum British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Prunus padus Bird Cherry 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

Time of year - larvae: July, September - April (British leafminers).

Time of year - adults: The moths fly in two generations, in May and August (UKMoths).

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread throughout most of the British Isles UKMoths) including Anglesey, Bedfordshire, Breconshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Durham, East Gloucestershire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sussex, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kincardineshire, Leicestershire, Merionethshire, Middlesex, Montgomeryshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Devon, North Essex, North Northumberland, North Somerset, North-west Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire, South Hampshire, South Northumberland, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Gloucester, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Prunus cerasifera, Prunus domestica, Prunus padus, Prunus spinosa

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis laomedon (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Pnigalio agraules (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis acalle (Walker, 1848) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Sympiesis gordius (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Minotetrastichus platanellus (Mercet, 1922) Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Coloneura stylata Förster, 1862 Braconidae: Alysiinae
Colastes braconius Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Exothecinae
Colastes vividus Papp, 1975 Braconidae: Exothecinae
Cotesia praepotens (Haliday, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor bicolor (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor circumscriptus (Nees, 1834) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Pholetesor nanus (Reinhard, 1880) Braconidae: Microgastrinae
Diadegma pusio (Holmgren, 1860) Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae
Hemiteles similis (Gmelin, 1790) Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae
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