same leaf, lighted from behind

mine

Upper-, less often lower-surface corridor, followed, and often overrun, by a large blotch. Even when the corridor is overrun, it usually remains recognisable in the frass pattern. The mine looks whitish in the field. The blotch does not contain much frass, in the form of small black grains, dispersed and stuck to the floor of the mine. Feeding punctures upper-surface (always?). Pupation outside the mine.

host plants

Mainly on Caryophyllaceae, to a lesser degree also Chenopodiaceae, narrowly polyphagous

Agrostemma githago; Atriplex; Beta vulgaris; Cerastium fontanum subsp. vulgare; Chenopodium album; Dianthus armeria, barbatus, carthusianorum, caryophyllus, chinensis, collinus, scaber, superbus; Gypsophila paniculata, repens; Honckenya peploides; Moehringia trinervia; Myosoton aquaticum; Saponaria ocymoides, officinalis; Silene alba, atropurpurea, baccifera, chalcedonica, coelirosa, coronaria, dioica, flos-cuculi, latifolia, noctiflora, nutans, vulgaris; Spinacia oleracea; Stellaria graminea, holostea, media, nemorum & subsp. montana; Suaeda; Vaccaria.

The flies readily oviposit on Beta vulgaris, but the offspring viability is close to zero (Scheffer, 1999a; Uesugi, 2008a).

Starý (1930a) additionally mentions Circaea lutetiana. Gil-Ortiz ao (2009a) report from Spain two aberrant hostplants viz. Catananche caerulea (Asteraceae) and Cardaria draba (Brassicaceae). Also the reference to Stachys sylvatica (Lamiaceae) by Chałańska ao is unlikely.

phenology

Larvae in May-June and August-September (Hering, 1957a); I myself have often found larvae also in October en November, even a few in December.

BENELUX

BE recorded (De Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus, 1991a).

NE recorded (de Meijere, 1924a, 1939a).

LUX recorded (Ellis: Kautenbach).

distribution within Europe

Almost all European countries west of Finland – Bosporus (Fauna Europaea, 2007); also Turkey (Civelek, Önder & Deeming, 2000a).

larva

synonyms

Dizygomyza, Phytobia, Trilobomyza flavifrons; Agromyza exigua Meigen, 1830; A. xanthocephala Zetterstedt, 1860.

notes

Very common species; minor pest on spinach and sugar beet (Darvas, Skuhravá & Andersen, 2000a; Spencer, 1973b).

references

Ahr (1966a), Amsel & Hering (1933a), Beiger (1955a, 1960a, 1965a, 1970a, 1979a, 1989a), Benavent, Martínez, Moreno & Jiménez (2004a), Beuk (2002a), Boucher (2012a), De Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus (1991a), Buhr (1932a, 1941b, 1964a), Černý (2001a), Černý, Andrade, Gonçalves & von Tschirnhaus (2018a), Černý & Merz (2007a), Černý & Vála (1999a), Černý, Vála & Barták (2001a), Chałańska, Łabanowski & Soika (2006a), Ci̇velek, Çikman & Dursun (2008a), Civelek, Önder & Deeming (2000a), Csóka (2003a), Darvas, Skuhravá & Andersen (2000a), Diškus & Stonis (2012a), Drăghia (1967a, 1968a, 1970a, 1972a), Eiseman & Lonsdale (2018a), Eiseman, Lonsdale, van der Linden ao (2021a), van Frankenhuyzen Houtman & Kabos (1982a), Gil-Ortiz, Falcó-Garí, Oltra-Moscardó ao (2009a), Griffiths (1962a), Guglya (2021a), Hartig (1939a), Hering (1926b, 1930b, 1932g, 1955b, 1957a, 1961a), Huber (1969a), Kabos (1971a), Kvičala (1938a), Maček (1999a), Manning (1956a), Masetti, Lanzoni, Burgio & Süss (2004a), de Meijere (1895a, 1924a, 1925a, 1939a), Michalska (1970a, 1972a, 1976a, 2003a), Michna (1975a), Niblett (1956a), Nowakowski (1954a), Ostrauskas, Pakalniškis & Taluntytė (2003a), Pakalniškis (1982b), Papp (2009a), Papp & Černý (2016a), Popescu-Gorj & Drăghia (1968a), Robbins (1991a), Scheffer (1999a), Scheirs, De Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus (1996a), Šefrová (2015a), Séguy (1950a), Seidel (1957a), Skala (1951a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Sønderup (1949a), Spencer (1953a, 1972a, 1973b, 1976a), Stammer (2016a), Starke (1942a), Starý (1930a), Süss & Moreschi (2003a), von Tschirnhaus (1999a), Uesugi (2008a), Utech (1962a), Zoerner (1969a, 1970b).