Phytomyza jucunda Frost & Sasakawa, 1954
on Ilex
Ilex crenata, Belgium, prov. Limbourg, Kerkhoven, den Tip, 12.i.2016 © Carina Van Steenwinkel; det. Miloš Černý
underside of a leaf with preformed exit opening; the anterior spiracula penetrate the epidermis.
Ilex crenata, Belgium, prov. Limbourg, Kerkhoven, den Tip, 12.i.2016 © Carina Van Steenwinkel; det. Miloš Černý
exit opening, with anterior spiracula
Ilex aquifolium, Belgium, prov. Limbourg, Kerkhoven, den Tip, 10.ii.2018 © Carina Van Steenwinkel; det. Miloš Černý
underside of a leaf with preformed exit opening; the anterior spiracula penetrate the epidermis.
parasite
Upper surface gallery, initially narrow and often for some length following the leaf margin, gradally strongly widening and then, specially in small leaves, forming a secondary blotch. Frass in small grains, forming an continuous black line almost in in the centre of the gallery (very unusual in Agromyzidae). Pupation in the mine; at the underside of the leaf a circular exit opening is prepared, closed by the epidermis. The, strikingly bifid anterior horns of the puparium protrude through the epidermis.
host plants
Aquifoliaceae, monophagous
Ilex aquifolium, crenata.
Less often on the indigenous holly.
BENELUX
Observed in Belgium and the Netherlands (Dek & Van Steenwinkel, 2018a).
notes
A potential threat for commercial holly cultivation.
references
Dek & Van Steenwinkel (2018a), Sasakawa (1961a), Warrington (2021a).