Phytomyza plantaginis Robineau-Desvoidy, 1851

Plantago lanceolata, Belgium, prov. East Flanders, Oudenaarde, bos t’Ename © Carina Van Steenwinkel

the galleries are relatvely narrow and the frass grains are small and very widely spaced

puparium, as seen in transparency

puparium, hypophyllous

Plantago major, Harderwijk
mine
Strikingly narrow corridor, upper-surface or lower-surface, often also alternating. Frass in comparatively small, very widely spaced grains. Generally the corridor is so narrow that the frass grains seems to lay in a single row. Pupation within the mine, sometimes in the petiole. The black front spiracula of the puparium penetrate the epidermis.
host plants
Plantaginaceae, monophagous
Plantago lanceolata, major, maritima, media.
The reference to P. maritima stems from Bland (1994b).
phenology
Larvae from May till October.
BENELUX
BE recorded (Scheirs a.o., 1994a).
NE recorded (de Meijere, 1924a).
LUX not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
distribution within Europe
Entire Europe west of the line Lapland-Bosporus (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
larva
puparium
synonyms
Phytomyza robinaldi Goureau, 1851, Ph. genualis Loew, 1869, Ph. nannodes Hendel, 1935, Ph biseriata Hering, 1936, Ph. plantaginicaulis Hering, 1944.
Hering’s (1957a) concept of Ph. plantaginis partly refers to Ph. griffithsi.
notes
Van Frankenhuyzen, Houtman & Kabos (1982a) call this species very common in the Netherlands; also Buhr (1832a) describes it as “everywhere common” in northern Germany. At present the species is much less common.
The front spiracula of the puparium that penetrate the epidermis make one think of the genus Chromatomyia, where this is the common rule. Nevertheless the species has to be placed in the genus Phytomyza on the basis of the characters of the adult insect.
references
Andersen (2013a), Beiger (1970a, 1979a), Beuk (2002a), Bland (1992b, 1994b), Buhr (1932a, 1941b, 1964a), Černý (2001a, 2007a, 2011a), Černý, Andrade, Gonçalves & von Tschirnhaus (2018a), Černý & Merz (2005a, 2006a, 2007a), Černý & Vála (1999a, 2006a), Černý, Vála & Barták (2001a), Ci̇velek, Çikman & Dursun (2008a), Civelek, Deeming & Önder (2000a), Drăghia (1972a), Dreger & Myssura (2005a), van Frankenhuyzen, Houtman & Kabos (1982a), Gil Ortiz (2009a), Hering (1924a, 1927a, 1936c, 1944c, 1955b, 1957a), Huber (1969a), Kabos (1971a), Kvičala (1938a), Maček (1999a), Masetti, Lanzoni, Burgio & Süss (2004a), de Meijere (1924a, 1926a, 1939a, 1946a, 1950a), Michalska (1970a), Nowakowski (1954a), Ostrauskas, Pakalniškis & Taluntytė (2003a), Pakalniškis (1982b, 1998a), Pârvu (2005a), Popescu-Gorj & Drăghia (1966a), Robbins (1991), Rydén (1926a), Sasakawa (1961a), Scheirs ao (1994a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Sønderup (1949a), Spencer (1957g, 1963a, 1965a, 1972a,b, 1974a, 1976a), Starke (1942a), von Tschirnhaus (1999a), Ureche (2010a), Zoerner (1969a).