Plant Parasites of Europe

leafminers, galls and fungi

Deporaus betulae

Deporaus betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)

birch leaf roller

polyphagous on woody plants

Deporaus betulae

Hoofddorp, 31.v.2021 © Laurens van der Linde

Deporaus betulae

Hoofddorp, 12.v.2013 © Laurens van der Linde

Deporaus betulae: adult feeding on Betula pendula

Betula pendula © Frits Bink, Saxifraga Foundation: adult beetje with feeding traces

Deporaus betulae: leaf rolls on Betula pendula

Betula pendula © Pieter van Breugel, Saxifraga Foundation: leaf rolls

parasite

The adult beetles cause window feeding in the spring. The female makes about 15 leaf rolls in her lifetime, each one with mostly 2 or 3 eggs. For the construction of the leaf roll she first builds an imago of the shape and size of the leaf by walking around several times. Then she makes two sigmoid cuts from the two leaf margins to the midrib, then rolls the distal part of the leaf into an acute cone. Often after some time the roll drops to the ground. After about four months the larvae are full grown and crawl into the soil for pupation.

host plants

Alnus glutinosa.incana; Betula pendula, pubescens; Carpinus betulus; Castanea sativa; Corylus avellana; Fagus sylvatica; Prunus avium; Quercus petraea, rubra; Tilia.

Mainly on birch.

phenology

Univoltine; hibernation as imago.

distribution within Europe

(PESI, 2019).

notes

The trajectory of the cut made by the female in the leaf has attracted the attention of several mathematicians; see for instance Horváth.

references

Dieckmann (1974a), Heijerman & van der Leij (1997a), Horváth (1988a), Reinheimer & Hassler (2010a), Roques, Cleary, Matsiakh & Eschem (2017a), Urban (2012c), Yunakov, Nazarenko, Filimonov & Volovnik (2018a).

Last modified 23.vii.2023