Pteridium aquilinum, België, prov. Henegouwen, Thuin, Bois de la Frégène;
© Jean-Yves Baugnée

Pteridium aquilinum, Belgium, prov. Hainaut, Thuin, Bois de la Frégène;
© Jean-Yves Baugnée

mine

Large full depth blotch, covering the entire distal part of a pinnula. The mine begins near the top, where an elliptic egg shell is attachted to the underside of the rachis. Larva solitary. The mine contains much frass.

hostplants

Pteridophyta, polyphagous

Asplenium; Athyrium filix-femina; Blechnum spicant; Cystopteris fragilis; Dryopteris filix-mas; Onoclea struthiopteris; Osmunda regalis; Polypodium; Pteridium aquilinum.

Bracken is the most common hostplant by far.

phenology

Larvae in June-August (Hering, 1957a).

BENELUX

BE found in 2011 by Jean-Yves Baugnée (© above).

NE recorded (de Meijere (1911a, as Hylemyia cinerosa).

LUX recorded (Ellis, Luxembourg-ville, on Asplenium ruta-muraria).

distribution within Europe

West of the line Scandinavia – Greece (Fauna Europaea, 2007).

larva

puparium

Described by Stork (1936a), as Pycnoglossa cinerosa) and Dušek (1970a).

synonyms

Chirosia setifemur (Ringdahl, 1939), Pycnoglossa hystrix (Brischke, 1880), P. hystricina.

notes

Hering (1957a) writes that authors that preceded him had misunderstood Chirosia cinerosa, and confused it with histricina (called by him still hystrix). The real cinerosa would only live on Matteuccia struthiopteris, while histricina would live on all fern genera mentioned above, including Matteuccia. Modern checklists indeed consider cinerosa and histricina two separate species. The recent checklist of the Dutch Diptera by Beuk, Prijs & de Jong (2002a) takes it that cinerosa and not histricina is the species that does occur in the Netherlands. Assuming that Hering’s list of hostplants is correct, my observations from Asplenium ruta-muraria, Dryopteris dilatata, Polypodium vulgare, and (especially) Pteridium aquilinum do not support the view of Beuk et al.

Strong preference for the more shaded woodland sites (Brown & McGavin, 1982a).

references

Beiger (1960a, 1965a, 1970a, 1979a), Beuk, Prijs & de Jong (2002a), Brown & McGavin (1982a), Buhr (1933a, 1964a), Dušek (1970a), Hering (1957a), Huber (1969a), Maček (1999a), de Meijere (1911a), Michalska (1970a, 1976a), Niblett (1956a), Robbins (1991a), Starý (1930a), Stork (1936a), Zoerner (1969a.

11/10/2015