Cirsium spear thistle and relatives
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Cirsium by Hans Roskam click here)Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine on or (partly) within the midrib => 2
1b mine not associated with the midrib => 7
1c galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine on or (partly) within the midrib => 2
1b mine not associated with the midrib => 7
1c galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a mine upper- or lower-surface; larva a maggot => 3
2b mine full depth; larva with chitinised head => 6
3a larva in the basis of the midrib, that is galled and swollen; from there short corridors enter the lamina: Phytomyza continua
3b midrib not galled or swollen; mine not in such a basal position => 4
4a side branches slender, not very numerous; frass in strings: Liriomyza strigata
4b side branches short, numerous; frass in grains => 5
5a mine begins at an egg shell; frass grains minute, forming a shadow line along the midrib and side veins: Pegomya terebrans
5b no visible egg shell; frass grains coarser, most of them on top of the midrib: Agromyza apfelbecki
6a larva without feet: Orthochaetes insignis
6b larva with thoracic and abdominal feet: Scrobipalpa acuminatella (but see also S. pauperella)
7a mine small and of indefinite shape, often in numbers on a leaf => 8
7b blotch mine => 12
7cmore or less broad gallery => 17
7d fleck mine => 28
7e “pseudo mine”: the larva causes window feeding, actually living free between the upper epidermis and the dense layer of felt at the underside of the leaf: Agonopterix ferocella
8a mines puckered by silk deposited interiorly; larvae, sombre coloured, with thoracic feet => 9
8b mines flat; larvae whitish, without feet => 11
9a larva: pinacula colourless (the bases of the setae themselves are black) : Cnephasia incertana
9b pinacula black => 10
10a larva: behind/below the anus a chitinous comb: Cnephasia asseclana
10b anal comb absent: Cnephasia stephensiana
11a the larva mines all its life: Phytosciara macrotricha
11b older larvae live free under the leaf, causing window feeding: Phytosciara halterata
12a larva a maggot => 13
12b larva with distinct head and thoracic legs => 14
13a mine very transparent; larva solitary: Pegomya steini
13b mine brownish black; larvae comunal: Phytomyza heterophylli
14a mine strongly puckered: Cnephasia lineata
14b mine almost flat => 15
15a mining larva: pinacula concolorous with (yellowish green): Agonopterix carduella
15b pinacula black => 16
16a larva: head light brown; mine contains much frass: Tebenna micalis
16b head black; mine with little or no frass: Agonopterix nanatella aridella
17a mine small; larva later lives free in a spinning under the leaf => 18
17b mine large; larva remains in the mine untill close to pupation => 20
18a head yellowish to brown; pale yellow or green: Agonopterix arenella
18b head black; green => 19
19a matt green; June – early July: Agonopterix subpropinquella
19b apple green; July – early August: Agonopterix propinquella
20a mine at least partly full depth; larva with feet and head => 21
20b mine upper- or lower-surface, or inter-parenchymal; larva a maggot => 22
21a mine usually with a central, thread-like frass line: Apteropeda orbiculata
21b frass in scattered grains: Sphaeroderma testaceum
22a pupation within the mine => 23
22b larva leaves the mine before pupation => 25
243 puparium metallic black; mines in October/November: Phytomyza autumnalis
23b healthy puparia white (parasitised or dead puparia are brownish black!) => 24
24a mine very long, largely inter-parenchymal, yellow-green**; larva with a short frontal appendage: Phytomyza spinaciae
24b mine shorter, upper- or lower-surface, whitish**; larva without frontal appendage: Chromatomyia cf. syngenesiae
25a frass in discrete grains, their distance larger than their diameter; corridor loosely wound => 26
25b frass at least partly in strings or pearl chains; corridor closely wound, forming a secondary blotch => 27
26a frass grains small, not very widely apart; mine short, often in a single leaf segment: Phytomyza cirsii
26b frass grains large, wide apart; mine unusually long: Phytomyza albiceps
27a larva: rear spiraculum with 7-9 papillae; mine essentially upper-surface but with lower-surface parts, causing the secondary blotch to have semitransparent patches: Liriomyza bryoniae
27b larva: rear spiraculum with 3 papillae; mine fully upper-surface: Liriomyza soror
28a the larva lives free under a leaf, making a slit-like opening and eating away so much leaf tissue the the front half of its disappears in the leaf: Jordanita globulariae, J. graeca, J. notata, J. tenuicornis
28b the larva mines the lower leaves from a silken tube: Scrobipalpula psilella
28c the larva mines from a case => 29
29a case helicoidal: Apterona helicoidella
29b case more or less straight => 30
30a case dark brown: Coleophora paripennella
30b case straw coloured: Coleophora peribenanderi
** The leaves of Cirsium oleraceum are too thin for an inter-parenchymal mine; here the corridor is upper-surface and white, and only the larvae, and to a limited extent the length of the corridor, are diagnostic.
Not included in the key: Aulagromyza carlinae; Coleophora follicularis; Gnorimoschema ochraceellum (mystification); Liriomyza bryoniae, trifolii; Phytomyza cirsiophaga (insufficiently known).