Medicago medick
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Medicago by Hans Roskam click here)
Dichotomous table for leafminers
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a fleck mine => 2
1b larva with feet and a chitinised head; mine never a gallery => 8
1c larva a maggot; mine a gallery, or blotch preceded by a gallery => 17
1d galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a larva lives free under the leaf: Polyommatus icarus
2b larva mines from a case => 3
3a case helicoidal => 4
3b case different, essentially straight => 5
4a convolutions clearly separated by a deep suture: Apterona helicoidella
4b convolutions indistinctly separated, suture shallow: Apterona gracilis
5a larva in a sheath case: Coleophora fuscociliella
5b .. composite leaf case (occurrence on this host plant doubtful): Coleophora discordella
5c .. lobe case: Coleophora hospitiella
5d .. pistol case => 6
6a case up to 16 mm, straw-coloured with a pallium of about 1/5 of the length of the case: Coleophora cartilaginella
6b case shorter, darker, with a proportionally much larger pallium => 7
7a pallium at its base with a pair of winglike extensions: Coleophora vicinella
7b pallium without extensions: Coleophora spumosella
8a tentiform mine with length folds in the epidemis; pupation within the mine => 9
8b mine flat, without folds => 11
9a pupa: cremaster with two pairs of spines that are set very close together; especially the outer spines strong: Phyllonoryter nigrescentella
9b cremaster with two pairs of long and thin spines that are set widely apart => 10
10a pupa: cremaster spines with a notch just below the terminal hook; abdomen segment 10 about as broad as long: Phyllonorycter medicaginella
10b cremaster spines not notched below the terminal hooks; abdomen segment 10 broader than long: Phyllonorycter insignitella
11a frass in concentric arcs; the larva mines all its life: Leucoptera onobrychidella
11b frass, if at all present, never in arcs; older larvae live free among spun leaves => 12
12a larva: dark grey => 13
12b whitish, yellowish, to rather dark purplish brown => 16
13a mine quite small, (almost) without frass => 14
13b mine not remarkably small, with clear amounts of frass: Aproaerema anthyllidella
14a larva: pinacula colourless (the bases of the setae themselves are black) : Cnephasia incertana
14b pinacula black => 15
15a larva: behind/below the anus a chitinous comb: Cnephasia asseclana
15b anal comb absent: Cnephasia stephensiana
16a anal shield shining black: Syncopacma vinella
16b anal shield pale brown: Syncopacma taeniolella
17a quite short gallery that seems to end upon a thick vein: Ophiomyia curvipalpis
17b mine not like this => 18
18a mine a corridor until the end => 19
18b corridor in the end widened into a clear primary blotch => 25
19a puparium formed in the mine, in a, usually lower-surface, pupal chamber: Chromatomyia horticola
19b larva leaves the mine before pupation through a semicircular exit slit in the epidermis => 20
20a corridor pinnately branched, main and side branches overlying the midrib and thick lateral veins: Liriomyza strigata
20b corridor little branched, not associated in this way with the leaf venation => 21
21a larva: cephalic skeleton with two rearwards directed arms => 22
21b cephalic skeleton with three rearwards directed arms: Agromyza frontella, A. drepanura, & A. roskoznyi
22a frass in a broad green central band with minute black granules at either side: Liriomyza congesta
22b frass in black strings or thread fragments at either side of the corridor => 23
23a larva: rear spiraculum with 3 hook-like papillae: Liriomyza trifolii
23b rear spiraculum with 6-12 papillae => 24
24a gallery usually ends in a secondary blotch: Liriomyza bryoniae
24b usually no secondary blotch: Liriomyza cicerina
25a corridor part very shallow, whitish; blotch much deeper, partly even full depth (very common species): Agromyza nana
25b mine deeper, green; in the blotch (almost) no full depth parts => 26
26a corridor part of the mine follows the leaf margin for some distance; frass in green lumps: Phytoliriomyza variegata
26b corridor part free of the leaf margin; frass different => 27
27a frass at least partly in thread fragments; larva: rear spiraculum with 3 papillae: Liriomyza xanthocera
27b frass powdery, in green – black clouds along the sides of the mine; rear spiraculum (virtually) consisting of one acute pointed structure => 28
28a larva: end of the rear spiraculum dark, bud-like: Scaptomyza graminum
28b end of rear spiraculum light coloured, inverse bottle-shape: Scaptomyza flava