Sonchus spec.,’s-Heer Abskerke, 24.vii.2013 © Lucien Calle: upper side and underside of the same leaf

Sonchus asper Germany (Baden-Württemberg), Baden-Weiler, 27.ix.2001

Sonchus asper, Amstelveen, 27.viii.2007: two vacated mines, lower surface

a young larva in its mine

mine

Circular, lower-surface blotch, about 5 mm in diam, often quite 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 liquid resulting from external digestion. Pupation sometimes in the mine, sometimes in the soil. At least two annual generations. Pupa in a white cocoon (Löw, 1888a).

host plants

Asteraceae, monophagous

Sonchus arvensis, asper & subsp. glaucescens, maritimus, oleraceus, tenerrimus.

phenology

Larvae from July on (Hering, 1957a); two or more generations per year, pupation of the summer generation(s) in the galls, pupation of the winter generation in the soil (Bayram, Skuhravá & Çobanoğlu (2005a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Gosseries, 1991c).

NE recorded (de Meijere, 1939a).

LUX recorded (Lambinon, Schneider & Feitz, 2001b).

distribution within Europe

From Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Serbia, and from the UK to the Ukraine (Fauna Europaea, 2007).

larva

Initially white, later yellowish.

synonyms

Cecidomyia sonchi Vallot, 1827; Cecidomyia sonchi Löw, 1875.

parasitoids, predators

Omphale brevis.

notes

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

references

Bayram, Skuhravá & Çobanoğlu (2005a), Beiger (1970a), Bellmann (2012a), Blanes-Dalmau, Caballero-López & Pujade-Villar (2017a), Bruun (2015a), Buhr (1941b, 1965a), Cerasa (2015a), Chinery (2011a), Cogolludo (1921a), Coulianos & Holmåsen (1991a), Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Drăghia (1968a), Gosseries (1991c), Hansson & Shevtsova (2012a), Hering (1957a), Hellrigl (2006a), Houard (1909a), Huber (1969a), Ilie & Marinescu (2011a), Karimpour & Skuhravá (2012a), Kieffer (1888a, 1891a), Koops (2013a), Lambinon, Schneider & Feitz (2001b, 2012a), Lehmann & Hannover (2016a), Löw (1888a), Maček (2002a). McClay (1996a), de Meijere (1939a), Nijveldt & Beuk (2002a), Ostrauskas, Pakalniškis & Taluntytė (2003a), Peschken (1982a), Redfern & Shirley (2011a), Robbins (1991a), Roskam (2009a), Roskam & Carbonnelle (2015a), Schneider (2016a), Seidel (1957a), Simova-Tošić & Skuhravá (2001a), Simova-Tošić, Skuhravá & Skuhravý (1996a, 2000a, 2004a, 2007a), Simova-Tošić, Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Postolovski (2007a), Skrzypczyńska (2007a), Skuhravá, Karimpour, Sadeghi, Gol & Joghataie (2014a), Skuhravá & Skuhravý (1994a, 1997a,b, 1999a,b, 2002a, 2005c, 2006a, 2007a, 2009a,b, 2010a, 2011a, 2021a: 268), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Blasco-Zumeta & Pujade-Villar (2006a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Buhr (2013a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Carbonnelle (2017a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Dauphin & Coutin (2005a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Ebejer (2002a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Hellrigl (2001a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Jørgensen (2006a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Massa (2007a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Meyer (2014a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Neacsu (1972a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Skrzypczyńska & Szadziewski (2008a), Sønderup (1949a), Stănescu (2009a), Sylvén (1960a), Tomasi (2003a, 2012a, 2014a).