Achillea sneezewort, yarrow, milfoil
Incl. Diotis, Otanthus, Ptarmica.
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Achillea by Hans Roskam click here)
Dichotomous table for leafminers
Dichotomous table for leafminers
2a case helicoidal; holes in the mines not neatly circular, rim not with stubbles of bitten silk: Apterona helicoidella
2b case more or less straight, tubular; rim with stubbles => 3
3a lobe case: Coleophora ptarmicia
3b no lobe case => 4
4a case black => 5
4b case more or less straw coloured => 7
5a case laterally compressed => 6
5b case laterally hardly compressed, tubular: Coleophora ditella
6a mouth angle 0°-10°, case flat on the leaf: Coleophora vibicigerella
6b mouth angle about 45°, case oblique on the leaf: Coleophora partitella
7a case felty or hairy => 8
7b case smooth => 9
8a case slender, felty, up to 12 mm: Coleophora expressella
8bcase squat, long-hairy, much smaller: Coleophora millefolii
9a larva: head and pronotum dark brown to black: C. follicularis
9b head and pronotum very pale brown => 10
10a larva: rear margin of pronotum a fine dark line: Coleophora trochilella
10b rear margin of pronotum with two dark spots: Coleophora gardesanella
11a small, full depth blotch (usually at the leaf margin/tip), where an oval excision is made: Incurvaria praelatella
11b mine different, never with an excision => 12
12a mine full depth, transparent; larva with thoracic feet and a chitinised head => 13
12b mine upper- or lower-surface, not transparent; larva a maggot => 18
13a mine small, of indefinite shape => 14
13b mine larger, corridor or blotch => 15
14a pinacula colourless (only the base of the setae dark): Cnephasia incertana
14b pinacula black: Cnephasia asseclana
15a mine begins as a narrow corridor with a central frass line =>16
15b mine different, blotch or tentiform, without a corridor beginning => 17
16a older larvae make fleck mines, in which the enter the leaf from its very margin: Bucculatrix clavenae
16b older larvae generally live free: Bucculatrix cristatella
17a larva with red dorsal length lines: Scrobipalpa proclivella
17b larva with only dark green dorsal length lines: Sophronia humerella
18a mine with conspicuous primary and secondary feeding lines => 19
18b no feeding lines apparent => 20
19a yellow-brown blotch; most frass concentrated in a blackish centre: Trypeta artemisiae
19b blotch or wide corridor; frass scattered, no dark centre: Trypeta zoe
20a pale green blotch mine: Calycomyza artemisiae
20b corridor mine => 21
21a narrow corridor that ends upon a thick vein: Ophiomyia curvipalpis
21b corridor does not end this way => 22
22a puparium in the mine, usually in a lower-surface pupal chamber: Chromatomyia cf syngenesiae
22b puparium formed after the mine has been vacated => 23
23a frass in strings or pearl chains => 24
23b frass in discrete grains => 25
24a pinnately branched corridor, main branch positioned upon the midrib; larva: rear spiracula with 9-13 papillae: Liriomyza strigata
24b mine not associated with the midrib; rear spiracula with 3 papillae: Liriomyza ptarmicae
25a mine an extremely narrow corridor, even in the thinnest leaf segments; only in Achillea millefolium => 26
25b mine less extreme; in Achillea ptarmica (and garden achillea’s) => 27
26a larvae in May – September; generally the corridor descends from leaf tip to base: Phytomyza pullula
26b larvae in May; generally the corridor ascends from leaf base to tip: Phytomya achilleae
27a mine often follows the midrib over long distances: Phytomyza corvimontana
27bno association with the midrib => 28
28a frass in widely separated grains, therefore not clearly in two rows: Phytomyza ptarmicae
28b frass grains closely set, clearly in two rows: Phytomyza tanaceti
Not included in the key: Bucculatrix albiguttella, fatigatella, humiliella, latviaella; Coleophora achilleae, caelebipennella, coarctataephaga, lenae, succursella; Gnorimoschema ptarmicae; Scrobipalpula seniorum.