Salix sallow, willow
(For a dichotomous table for galls on Salix by Hans Roskam click here)
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine ends upon a circular excision: Tachyerges decoratus
1b tentifrom mine => 2
1c upper- or lower-surface blotch => 8
1d full depth blotch => 16
1e corridor => 25
1f full depth corridor that widens so quickly that it can just as well be called a triangular blotch; a elliptic larva always present in the mine: Rhamphus pulicarius
1g very long corridor in the bark of a young twig, ending upon a white upper-surface cocoon at the very base of a leaf: Phyllocnistis canariensis, Ph. ramulicola
1h fleck mine => 32
1i galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
Dichotomous table for leafminers
1a mine ends upon a circular excision: Tachyerges decoratus
1b tentifrom mine => 2
1c upper- or lower-surface blotch => 8
1d full depth blotch => 16
1e corridor => 25
1f full depth corridor that widens so quickly that it can just as well be called a triangular blotch; a elliptic larva always present in the mine: Rhamphus pulicarius
1g very long corridor in the bark of a young twig, ending upon a white upper-surface cocoon at the very base of a leaf: Phyllocnistis canariensis, Ph. ramulicola
1h fleck mine => 32
1i galls, etc => Tables for all parasites per species
2a mine < 8 mm; larva later living free under a folded leaf margin: Caloptilia stigmatella
2b mine > 15 mm, pupation in the mine => 3
3a on creeping willow: Phyllonorycter quinqueguttella
3b on sallows => 4
3c on narrow-leaved willows => 5
4a pupa in a tough, golden or gold-brown cocoon: Phyllonorycter dubitella & Ph. hilarella
4b cocoon thin, white or pale yellow: Phyllonorycter salicicolella
5a pupa not in a cocoon; cremaster with 1 pair of spines; only on Osier: Phyllonorycter viminetorum
5b pupa in a (sometimes thin) cocoon; cremaster with 2 pairs of spines => 6
6a pupa: cremaster smooth; thorns minute, barely visible even under a microscope: Phyllonorycter pastorella
6b cremaster surface rough; thorns not that small => 7
7ainner pair of thorns pointing upwards: Phyllonorycter connexella
7b inner pair of thorns pointing inwards: Phyllonorycter salictella
8a mine black or brown-black => 9
8b mine paler => 13
9a on top of the mine, near a vein, a group of flat, glistening egg shells: Leucoptera sinuella
9b no egg shells to be seen => 10
10a in fresh mines feeding lines well visible; larva a maggot: Agromyza albitarsis
10b no feeding lines apparent; larva with chitinised head => 11
11a mine large; oviposition scars recognisable as light brown transparant points ( Zeugophora-species, difficult to identify) => 12
11b lmine 1-2 cm; no oviposition scars visible: Isochnus sequensi, I. angustifrons, & I foliorum
12a larva: pronotum with 6 pairs of setae: Zeugophora flavicollis
12b pronotum with 9 pairs of setae: Zeugophora subspinosa
13a oviposition site (almost always the leaf tip) covered by a shining black drop of hardened secretion: Trachys minutus
13b no such drop => 14
14a mine > 10 mm, young pale green, larva a maggot => 15
14b mine < 8 mm, silvery, rusty brown or brown; larva with chitinised head: Caloptilia stigmatella
15a Mediterranean species; larva: cephalic skeleton of Agromyzinae type: Japanagromyza salicifolii
15b western and central European species; cephalic skeleton of Phytomyzinae type: Aulagromyza tridentata
16a mine begins at a globular shining black egg shell => 17
16b no egg shell visible => 19
17a primary blotch, always against the midrib (in fact beginning within the midrib); egg on the midrib; frass in two diverging lines, forming a V-pattern; often in a green island: Ectoedemia intimella
17b secondary blotch, free from the midrib; frass not in a V => 18
18a on Sallows: Stigmella salicis
18b on Creeping Willow: Stigmella zelleriella
19a mine begins as a triangle, pressed against the midrib; frass in two diverging lines; often in a green island: Ectoedemia intimella
19b mine free from the midrib, frass not in a V => 20
20a larva without stemmata; pupation in the mine, in a globular cocoon => 21
20b larvae with one (more?) stemmata; a cocoon, if present, never globular => 22
21a oviposition in the midrib or a thick lateral vein: Tachyerges salicis
21b oviposition in the leaf disc, not in midrib or thick vein: Tachyerges rufitarsis
22a mine in early spring; larvae communal; older larvae live free in a common web: Yponomeuta rorrella
22b mine later; larva single, remaining in the mine till (close before) pupation => 23
23a pupa in the mine, in a disc-shaped cocoon; mine a primary blotch, extending from the leaf tip, occupying the entire width of the leaf; larva: feet reduced to short stumps: Heterarthrus microcephalus
23b pupation external; blotch mine does not start from the tip of the leaf; larva with relatively slender feet => 24
24a larva with a lateral black spot on each abdominal segment; mountain species, on all sorts of Salix: Scolioneura tirolensis
24b larva without a row of lateral spots; lowland species on Salix viminalis: Fenusella wuestneii
24c larva without a row of lateral spots; lowland species on Salix lapponum: Fenusella septentrionalis
25a gallery of normal depth, greenish, entirely limited to the lamina => 26
25b gallery epidermal, silvery of yellowish, partly running over the petiole and bark => 31
26a corridor upper- or lower-surface => 27
26b corridor full depth => 28
27a corridor broad: Agromyza salicina
27b corridor remarkably slender: Aulagromyza fulvicornis
28a mine begins at a shining-black globular egg shell => 29
28b no egg shell visible here => 30
29a on Sallows: Stigmella salicis
29b on Creeping Willow: Stigmella zelleriella
29c on other Willows: Stigmella obliquella
30a mine begins at the base of the midrib, ending at globular cocoon in which pupation takes place: Tachyerges pseudostigma & T. stigma
30b mine begins at the leaf tip, descends along the leaf margin, and ends upon a circular excision: Tachyerges decoratus
30c mine winds freely through the leaf: Lyonetia clerkella
31a gallery yellowish, frass line narrow, sharp: Phyllocnistis valentinensis
31b gallery silvery, frass line broader, less sharply defined: Phyllocnistis saligna
32a lobe case: Coleophora potentillae
32b composite leaf case: Coleophora lusciniaepennella
32c pistol case => 33
33a ‘handle’ of the pistol with ear-like appendages: Coleophora currucipennella
33b no such appendages => 34
34a case at either side with grey side-whiskers out of plant hair: Coleophora albidella
34b no side-whiskers => 35
35a case shining black; common, polyphagous species: Coleophora anatipenella
35b case greyish; rare species, only on narrow-leaved Willows: Coleophora zelleriella
Not included in the key: Caenorhinus mannerheimii; Callisto coffeella; Coleophora rectilineella, serratella; Ectoedemia occultella; Gypsonoma minutana, oppressana; Lyonetia pulverulentella; labyrinthella; Phyllonorycter heringiella, rolandi; Stigmella arbusculae, benanderella, nivenburgensis, pallidiciliella, vimineticola; Trachys reflexus.