Plant Parasites of Europe

leafminers, galls and fungi

Stigmella minusculella

Stigmella minusculella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855)

brown-tipped pigmy

on Pyrus

Stigmella minusculella mine

Pyrus communis, Belgium, prov. Luxembourg, Resteigne © Jean-Yves Baugnée

Stigmella minusculella mine

Pyrus communis, Luxemburg, Kautenbach

Stigmella embonella mines

Pyrus spinosa, Rhodes (Nepticula embonella); from Klimesch (1978b)

mine

Egg at the underside of the leaf. The mine is a not very strongly contorted corridor, also not limited to a small portion of the leaf, and usually not forming a secondary blotch. Frass black. The frass line is very narrow, especially in the first section of the mine. In the second part the line may be broader, with the frass dispersed or indistinctly coiled, but always the width of the frass remains less than a third of the width of the corridor.

host plants

Rosaceae, monophagous

Pyrus communis, elaeagrifolia, spinosa; Sorbopyrus auricularis.

phenology

Larvae remarkably early in the year: June – July and August – September (Emmet, 1983a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Phegea, 2009).

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).

LUX recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

distribution within Europe

From Denmark and Latvia to Iberia, Corsica, Italy, and Crete, and from Britain to the Ukraine (Fauna Europaea, 2009; Laštůvka & Laštůvka, 2009b, 2015a).

larva

Bright green; see Gustafsson & van Nieukerken (1990a) and Schoorl (1985a) for a description.

synonyms

Nepticula minusculella; Nepticula embonella Klimesch, 1978.

references

Anisimovas, Diškus & Stonis (2006a), Bengtsson (2008a), Borkowski (1969a), Buhr (1935b), Buszko & Baraniak (1989a), Černý (2001a), Corley, Rosete, Romão ao (2015a), Diškus & Stonis (2012a), Emmet (1983a), Gustafsson & van Nieukerken (1990a), Hering (1932g, 1957a), Huemer (1988a), Johansson ao (1990a), Kasy (1987a), Klimesch (1950c, 1956c, 1978b), Klimesch & Skala (1936c), Kurz (2016a), Kurz & Kurz (2007a), Laštůvka & Laštůvka (1997a, 2004a, 2009b, 2015a), Maček (1999a), Navickaitė, Diškus & Stonis (2014), van Nieukerken (1986a), van Nieukerken, Laštůvka & Laštůvka (2006a), De Prins & Steeman (2011a), Robbins (1991a), Schoorl (1985a), Schütze (1931a), Skala (1939a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Sobczyk & van Nieukerken (2021a), Sønderup (1949a), Starý (1930a), Steuer (1995a), Stonis, Navickaitė, Rocienė ao (2013a), Surányi (1942a), Szőcs (1977a, 1978a, 1981a), Triberti & Braggio (2011a) Sardinia.

Last modified 10.i.2022