Fenella nigrita Westwood, 1839

Potentilla anserina, Horst

Potentilla spec., België, prov. Oost-Vlaanderen, Oudenaarde, bos t’Ename © Carina Van Steenwinkel

occupied mines

larva in the mine
Agrimonia eupatoria, Nieuwendam
mine
Full depth transparent blotch without a clear preceding corridor, quickly and strongly widening from the start. Frass in sausage-shaped granules. Often several leaflets of a composite leaf each have a mine.
host plants
Rosaceae, oligophagous
Agrimonia eupatoria, procera, repens; Aremonia agrimonioides; Argentina anserina; Comarum palustre; Filipendula rubra, ulmaria; Fragaria vesca; Potentila argentea, argyrophylla, crantzii, erecta, fulgens, pensylvanica, reptans, tabernaemontani.
phenology
Larvae have been found from end May till end October.
BENELUX
BE recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
NE recorded (van Ooststroom, 1976a).
LUX recorded (Chevin, Ellis & Schneider, 2011a).
distribution within Europe
Entire Europe, with possible exception of the Balkan Peninsula (Fauna Europaea, 2008).
larva
notes
Mining sawfly larvae in general have an extremely restricted palate, and it is surprising that F. nigrita forms such a clear exception to this rule. Liston (1993b) therefore has suggested that the species in fact may consist of a complex of microspecies.
Among hundreds of reared specimens Hering (1924a) did not find a single male; apparently the species is parthenogenetic.
references
Ahr (1966a), Altenhofer (2003a), Beiger (1958a, 1960a, 1965a, 1970a, 1979a), Blank ao (1998a), Buhr (1933a, 1941a, 1964a), Chevin, Ellis & Schneider (2011a), Drăghia (1967a, 1971a), Haase (1942a), Hartig (1939a), Healy (1869b), Hering (1924a, 1930b, 1936b, 1957a), Huber (1969a), Kvičala (1938a), Liston (1993b, 1995b, 2006a, 2007d), Liston, Knight, Heibo, ao (2012a), Lorenz & Kraus (1957a), Maček (1999a, 2012c), Michalska (1970a, 1972a), Nowakowski (1954a), van Ooststroom (1976a), Popescu-Gorj & Drăghia (1968a), Pschorn-Walcher & Altenhofer (2000a), Pschorn-Walcher & Taeger (1995), Riddiford & Liston (2016a), Robbins (1991a), Scobiola-Palade (1974a), Skala (1941a, 1951a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Smith (1971a), Sønderup (1949a), Taeger, Blank & Liston (2006a), Taeger ao (1998a), Viramo (1969a), Wahlgren (1944a, 1951a), Zoerner (1969a), Zombori (1978a).