Aster
Incl. Bellidiastrum, Eurybia, Galatella, Oclemena, Symphyotrichum, Tripolium.
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Aster by Hans Roskam click here)Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a tentiform mine: Aristaea pavoniella
1b corridor or blotch => 2
1c fleck mine => 24
1d galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a tentiform mine: Aristaea pavoniella
1b corridor or blotch => 2
1c fleck mine => 24
1d galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a larva with distinct head => 3
2b larva a maggot => 10
3a larva with prolegs => 4
3b no prolegs present => 9
4a mine small, very irregular in shape; older larvae live free among spun leaves => 5
4b mine neither unusually small nor very irregular; most larve mine all their life, never live among spun leaves => 7
5a larva: pinacula colourless (though the base of the setae themselves is black): Cnephasia incertana
5b pinacula black => 6
6a larva: behind/below the anus a black chitinous comb: Cnephasia asseclana
6b no anal comb present: Cnephasia stephensiana
7a the larva mines from a silken tube below the leaf: Scrobipalpula psilella
7b the larve mines from the inside => 8
8a on Aster tripolium: Bucculatrix maritima
8b on other Aster species: Thiodia torridana
9a larva without feet; corridor begins in the leaf base or midrib, is blotchy later; frass dispersed: Orthochaetes insignis
9b larva with thoracic feet; corridor free in the leaf; frass, if at all present, in a central line: Apteropeda orbiculata
10a mine, at least initially, a very narrow, often also very long, corridor => 11
10b corridor not that extremely narrow => 12
11a mine ends upon the midrib, descends from there as a cortex miner along the stem; puparium in the mine, near the root collar: Ophiomyia curvipalpis
11b mine ends in the blade; there the puaprium is visible, in the mine: Ophiomyia maura
12a main branch of the mine on top of the midrib, with lateral lobes following the side veins => 13
12b corridor independent of the leaf venation => 14
13a corridor broad, side branches lobe-like; primary and secondary feeding lines conspicuous: Cornutrypeta spinifrons & Trypeta zoe
13b corridor narrow, side branches normal corridors; no feeding lines: Liriomyza strigata
14a broad primary blotch, no preceding corridor => 15
14b corridor, may form a secondary blotch => 17
15a primary and secondary feeding lines conspicuously present: Nemorimyza posticata
15b no feeding lines to be seen => 16
16a mine dirty green; at its start an elliptic egg shell; centre of the mine with a black mass of frass: Pegomya nigrisquama
16b mine whitish; no egg shell; no central accumulation of frass: Calycomyza humeralis
17a puparium in the mine => 18
17b pupation outside the mine => 20
18a primary feeding lines well visible; Aster tripolium only: Chromatomyia asteris
18b no feeding lines visible; on other Aster species => 19
19a corridor forms a secondary blotch; mountain species: Phytomyza pieninica
19b no secondary blotch is formed; synanthropic species, mainly on garden asters: Chromatomyia cf. syngenesiae
20a corridor begins with a tight spiral, that soon turns brown: Liriomyza eupatorii
20b no spiral at start of mine => 21
21a part of the corridor forms a secondary blotch; mountain species: Phytomyza hoppi
21b generally no secondary blotch is formed; lowland species => 22
22a generally the corridor starts upper-surface, later becoming lower-surface; mostly in greenhouses: Liriomyza huidobrensis
22b generally the corridor starts lower-surface, later becoming upper-surface: Liriomyza asteris
22c generally the corridor is upper-surface throughout its length => 23
23a feeding lines well visible; larva: rear spiraculum with 3 papillae: Liriomyza pusilla
23b no feeding lines; rear spiraculum with 8-11 papillae: Phytomyza erigerophila
24a the larve lives until shortly before pupation as a miner; only then a tubular silken case is made; on Aster tripolium only: Coleophora longicornella
24b larva almost all its life in a case => 25
25a sheath case => 26
25b tubular silken case => 28
26a case ≥ 12 mm, bent: Coleophora conspicuella
26b case ≤ 10 mm => 27
27a mouth angle c. 20°: Coleophora ditella
27b mouth angle c. 50°: Coleophora rectilineella
28a case covered with sand grains => 29
28b case without sand grains => 31
29a case of the younger larva strongly elongated at the rear end, 12-14 mm long; in spring this rear end is dropped; what remains then is a squat sausage of 8-9 mm; Aster amellus: Coleophora autumnella
29b case different; Aster linosyris => 30
30a case ≤ 5 mm: Coleophora frankii
30b case 6-7 mm: Coleophora galatellae
31a case sharply bent behind the mouth; as a result the mouth angle is about 0° causing the case to lie flat on the leaf: Coleophora linosyridella
31b mouth angle 20-45° => 32
32a after the larva has attached its case to the leaf, its makes long corridors from this starting point: Coleophora amellivora
32b the larva makes the normal, roundish, fleck mines => 33
33a on Aster tripolium => 24a: Coleophora longicornella
33b on other Aster species: Coleophora ramosella
Not included in the key: Coleophora maritimarum, possibly associatated with Aster alpinus, Coleophora pseudoditella; Gnorimoschema epithymella, Gnorimoschema steueri; Liriomyza trifolii; Orthochaetes setiger; Scrobipalpa salinella; Scrobipalpula diffluella; See also the note under Coleophora odorariella.