Cystiphora leontodontis (Bremi, 1847)

Cystiphora leontodontis: galls on Leontodon hispidus

Leontodon hispidus, Kunderberg © Melchior van Tweel

Cystiphora leontodontis: galls on Leontodon hispidus

same leaf, underside

mine

Circular, lower-surface blotch, about 5 mm in diameter, usually a number together on a leaf. Upper surface wart-like, strongly reddish discoloured, opaque. At the lower surface the mine is closed only by the epidermis. The larva is easily visible, as is its food: drops of fluid resulting from external digestion. Pupation in the soil.

host plants

Asteraceae, narrowly oligophagous

Leontodon asperrimus, crispus, hispidus & subsp. hastilis; Scorzoneroides autumnalis.

phenology

Larvae from June on (Hering, 1957a), two, or more generations per year (Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Jørgensen, 2006a).

BENELUX

The gall has been found by Melchior van Tweel in the extreme south of the Netherlands in 2005; pictures have been placed by him on the portal Waarneming.nl. The species is not known from Belgium or Luxembourg.

distribution within Europe

From Poland to the Pyrenees, and from the UK to Italy (Fauna Europaea, 2007).

larva

Reddish-yellow (Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Jørgensen, 2006a).

synonyms

Cystiphora leontodontis Kieffer, 1909.

notes

The biology of Cystiphora species forms a transition between the mining and galling ways of life.

references

Buhr (1964a), Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Hering (1957a), Kieffer (1909a), Lehmann & Hannover (2016a), Maček (2002a), Meyer & Jaschhof (1999a), Nieto Nafría, Mier Durante, García Prieto & Pérez Hidalgo (2005a), Redfern & Shirley (2011a), Robbins (1991a), Skuhravá & Skuhravý (1994a,b, 1997a, 2021a: 154), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Jørgensen (2006a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Meyer (2014a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Skrzypczyńska & Szadziewski (2008a), Tomasi (2014a).