Psilopa leucostoma (Meigen, 1830)
Diptera, Ephydridae
mine
The mine starts near a tiny and fragile egg shell at the leaf lower surface; it quickly falls off. The first section is a narrow, usually lower-surface corridor of a few cm in length with rather irregular sides and side branches. This corrior rather abruptly widens into a blotch of 0.5-1 cm. The blotch has full depth spots here and there. Old mines are blackish. Often several mines in a leaf (Krämer, 1962a).
hostplants
Amaranthaceae, oligophagous
phenology
Larvae in May-June (Krämer, 1962a).
BENELUX
BE recorded (Gosseries, 1991d).
NE recorded (de Meijere, 1939a).
LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
distribution within Europe
Entire Europe, with possible exception of Ireland and the Baljan Peninsula (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
larva
Front spiracula end in three branches, with 3-4, 1, and 1-2 papillae, respectively (Hering, 1962a).
notes
Herbarium material collected in IJzevoorde by Jaap Zwier on Beta possibly belongs to this species. In two out of the three mines the remnants of a flimsy egg shell were discernable, but these, like the initial corridor and the rest of the mine, were upper-surface. The frass was scant, in coarse grains; the mines had been vacated.
references
Beuk & Zatwarnicki (2002a), Gosseries (1991d), Hering (1957a, 1962a), Krämer (1962a), de Meijere (1939a), Skuhravy ao (1967a),
28.x.2008