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

 

Stigmella atricapitella (Haworth, 1828)
[Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae]

Black-headed Pigmy


Tinea atricapitella Haworth, 1828. Lep. Brit.: 585.
Stigmella atricapitella
(Haworth, 1828).


Leaf-miner: First generation, short gallery, frass in thick line. Second generation, longer gallery, frass in narrower line (British leafminers).

Oviposition at under- or upperside, usually well away from the leaf margin. The mine is a short, rather broad and quite tortuous corridor. In the first half the frass forms a very narrow central line; in the second half the frass is dispersed more widely, but never filling more than one third of the width of the gallery (Bladmineerders van Europa).

It is recommended that you try to rear out the adults to be certain of their identity.

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 a whitish-yellow and has dark prothoracic sclerites, which help distinguish it from S. roborella, with a pale head only (British leafminers).

Yellow. The larva is described by Gustafsson and van Nieukerken (1990a). The larva has dark coloured sclerites in the prothorax; uncertain of this is a constant character (Bladmineerders van Europa).

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

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

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Fagaceae        
Quercus       British leafminers
Quercus cerris Turkey Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Quercus frainetto     British leafminers
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Fagaceae        
Quercus       Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus cerris Turkey Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus petraea Sessile Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus pubescens Downy Oak   Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus pubescens Downy Oak   Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus pyrenaica Pyrenean Oak   Bladmineerders van Europa
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Belgian Lepidoptera
Quercus robur Pedunculate Oak British Wild Flowers by John Somerville et al. Bladmineerders van Europa

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

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in the Britain including Anglesey, Banffshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Ross, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Easterness, Elgin, Glamorgan, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kincardineshire, Middlesex, North Aberdeenshire, North Essex, North Hampshire, North Somerset, North Wiltshire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire, South Lancashire, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Warwickshire, West Gloucestershire, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

See also British leafminers distribution map.

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

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, ? Estonia, French mainland, Germany, Greek mainland, Hungary, Italian mainland, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madeira, Norwegian mainland, Portuguese mainland, Romania, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Also recorded in Near East (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Quercus cerris, Quercus frainetto, Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens, Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus robur

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Chalcidoidea  
Chrysocharis acoris (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Chrysocharis prodice (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Derostenus gemmeus Westwood, 1840 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Derostenus punctiscuta Thomson, 1878 Eulophidae: Entedoninae
Cirrospilus diallus Walker, 1838 Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Pnigalio agraules (Walker, 1839) Eulophidae: Eulophinae
Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available  
Adelius viator (Förster, 1851) Braconidae: Cheloninae
Mirax rufilabris Haliday, 1833 Braconidae: Miracinae


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


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