Symphytum officinale, Ackerdijkse Plassen

mine

The mine begins as an upper surface blotch in the centre of the leaf, from where corridors radiate, each with one larva. After a while these rays fuse, resulting in one large, brown, blotch. Frass in irregular strings. Pupation in principle outside the mine, exit slit in lower epidermis (always?). Often the puparium protrudes from the opening.

host plants

Boraginaceae, oligophagous

Aegonychon purpurocaeruleum; Brunnera macrophylla; Echium vulgare; Lithospermum officinale; Symphytum asperum, officinale, tuberosum.

Found in the Netherlands on Symphytum officinale only.

phenology

Larvae in July and September – October (Hering, 1957a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Scheirs, De Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus, 1996a, as symphyti).

NE recorded (Ellis, several localities).

LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).

distribution within Europe

From Lithuania to the Pyrenees, and from the UK to Romania (Fauna Europaea, 2008).

larva

puparium

synonyms

Phytomyza leucomaculata Vimmer, 1931; Ph. symphyti Hendel, 1935.

parasitoids, predators

Miscogaster maculata, rufipes.

notes

The species was described by Hering (1925b) after an imago that he incorrectly had associated with Medicago sativa.

references

Beiger (1970a, 1975a), Bland (1994c), Černý (2001a, 2011a), Černý & Vála (1999a), Černý, Vála & Barták (2001a), Griffiths (1962a, 1975a), Guglya (2021a), Hering (1925b, 1955a, 1957a, 1962a, 1963a), Maček (1999a), Nowakowski (1959a), Pakalniškis (1993a), Popescu-Gorj & Drăghia (1966a), Robbins (1991a), Scheirs, De Bruyn & von Tschirnhaus (1996a), Spencer (1972a), von Tschirnhaus (1982a, 1999a).