Fenella minuta (Dalhbom, 1835)

Geranium pusillum, Amstelveen, Schinkelbos

detail
start of the mine

Geranium pyrenaicum, Nieuwendam: the mined leaf segment curls inwards and turns red
mine
Very transparent mine near the leaf margin, containing abundant frass. The mine begins at a conspicuous oviposition scar. The larva can leave its mine and restart elsewhere. Pupation outside the mine.
hostplants
Geraniaceae, monophagous
Geranium columbinum, dissectum, pratense, pusillum, pyrenaicum, rotundifolium, sylvaticum.
phenology
Larvae were found in the Netherlands in mid-May and in the first half of September.
BENELUX
BE not recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
NE Found in 2007 in numbers in the Schinkelbos (at a few km from Schiphol); although the species was not included in van Ooststroom’s (1976a) checklist of Dutch Symphyta, there are some unpublished earlier observations in the Netherland (Ad Mol, pers. comm.).
LUX recorded (Chevin, Ellis & Schneider, 2011a).
distribution within Europe
From Sweden to the Pyrenees, Alps and Carpathians (Fauna Europaea, 2008). However, Hering (1936b) records the species also from Spain, Hartig (1939a) from Italy, and Maček (1999a) from Slovenia.
larva
synonyms
Fenella voigti Hering, 1932.
notes
Often leaves with mines of F. minuta also contained mines of Agromyza nigrescens.
references
Altenhofer (2003a), Blank ao (1998a), Buhr (1941a, 1964a), Chevin, Ellis & Schneider (2011a), Haase (1942a), Hartig (1939a), Hering (1932h, 1936b, 1957a), Lhomme (1934d), Liston (1995b), Maček (1999a), van Ooststroom (1976a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Taeger, Altenhofer, Blank, ao (1998a), Taeger, Blank & Liston (2006a).