Helichrysum Strawflower
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Helichrysum by Hans Roskam click here)
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a fleck mine; larva mines from a case => 2
1b fleck mine; larva free in the leaf => 10
1c corridor or blotch; larva not in a case => 6
1d galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a fleck mine; larva mines from a case => 2
1b fleck mine; larva free in the leaf => 10
1c corridor or blotch; larva not in a case => 6
1d galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a case black, made of silk “sheath case” =>3
2b case different, composed of leaf material => 5
3a case narrowed behind the mouth, especially ventrally: Coleophora ditella
3b case hardly constricted behind the mouth => 4
4a case dorsally with some length ridges; ventrally a deep keel: Coleophora caelebipennella
4b case smooth dorsally; ventrally almost without a keel: Coleophora helichrysiella
5a case straight, tubular, felty hairy, large (12 mm): Coleophora directella
5b case curved, hairs longer; case much smaller: Coleophora gnaphalii
6a mine upper- or lower-surface, greenish in transparency; larva a maggot => 7
6b mine full depth; larva with thoracic feet and chitinised head => 9
7a corridor, widening into a large blotch: Phytomyza kyffhusana
7b corridor from start to end => 8
8a pupation in the mine in a, usually lower-surface, pupal chamber; corridor little if at all branched: Chromatomyia cf syngenesiae
8b pupation outside the mine; mine pinnately branched, main branch overlying the midrib: Liriomyza strigata
9a the young larva makes a long, thread thin corridor with a central frass line; older larvae live free in the leaf, making fleck mines => 10
9b youth mines similar (starting in the leaf base), but the older larva remains in the leaf, making a broad corridor or a bloch => 11
9c youth mines different; neither are fleck mines made => 12
10a larva: pronotum with black dots; on H. arenarium: Bucculatrix gnaphaliella
10b pronotum whitish; on H. italicum: Bucculatrix helichrysella
11a larva yellow, head brown; on H. arenarium: Digitivalva reticulella
11b larva pale green, head pale yellow; on H. italicum: Digitivalva eglanteriella
12a mine contains much frass: Tebenna micalis
12b almost all frass in ejected from the mine => 13
13a pupation outside the leaf; larva in a silken tube, covered with sand, from where low leaves are mined out => 14
13b pupation within the leaf, or in a cocoon that is connected to the leaf => 15
14a larva uniformly light grey: Scrobipalpula psilella
14b larva green with dark green length lines: Sophronia humerella
15a the larva makes cocoon that is fixed to a stalk; from here silken tubes are made towards neighbouring leaves, that are mined; pupation in this cocoon: Isidiella divitella
15b no such cocoon is made => 16
16a on H. arenarium: Vulcaniella pomposella
16b on H. italicum, italicum subsp. serotinum & stoechas: Vulcaniella fiordalisa
The noctuid, Eublemma minutata eats the leaves of H. arenarium, including the upper and lower epidermis.
Not included in the key: Jordanita chlorosl Liriomyza trifolii; Sophronia humerella.