Fragaria vesca, Belgium, prov. Namur, Furfooz, Parc National de Furfooz © Stéphane Claerebout

mine

Oviposition generally at the leaf upper side, not especially close to a vein. From there a long and slender corridor starts, with frass usually a narrow central line. The corridor often crosses itself, but rarely a thick vein.

host plants

Rosaceae, oligophagous

Agrimonia eupatoria; Argentina anserina; Fragaria vesca; Filipendula vulgaria; Geum rivale, urbanum; Rubus caesius, fruticosus, idaeus.

phenology

Larvae in July and September-October (Emmet, 1983a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (De Prins, 1998a).

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2008).

LUX recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2008).

distribution within Europe

From Scandinavia to Italy, and from Ireland to the Crimea; not in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan (Fauna Europaea, 2008).

larva

synonyms

Nepticula splendidissimella. Emmet (1973-74, 1983a) which much hesitation, considers the form on Strawberry a distinct species, S. dulcella (Heinemann, 1862); most modern authors, including Johansson ao (199oa) and Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a) take it as a synonym of S. splendidissimella.

notes

The mine strongly overlaps with the one made by S. aurella. Koster, Bryan & Povel (1984a) have attempted to find a diagnose that in the most difficult situation, mines on Rubus, maximizes the chance of a correct identification. For S. splendidissimella this runs, in decreasing order of importance: frass in second half of the mine maximally half as wide as the corridor; frass in first cm maximally half as wide as corridor; mine makes a turn in its first cm; corridor often crosses itself; corridor rarely crosses the midrib.

references

Anisimovas, Diškus & Stonis (2006a), Beiger (1955a, 1960a, 1979a), Bengtsson (2008a), Borkowski (1969a), Buhr (1936a, 1964a), Buszko & Baraniak (1989a), Černý (2001a), Csóka (2003a), Diškus & Stonis (2012a), Drăghia (1968a, 1971a, 1972a), Emmet (1973-74a, 1983a), van Frankenhuyzen & Houtman (1972a), van Frankenhuyzen Houtman & Kabos (1982a), Gustafsson (1985a), Gustafsson & van Nieukerken (1990a), Haase (1942a), Hartig (1939a), Hering (1934a, 1957a), Huber (1969a), Huemer (1988a), Huemer & Erlebach (2003a), Johansson ao (1990a), Klimesch (1950c, 1958c, 1981a), Koster, Bryan & Povel (1984a), Kuchlein & Donner (1993a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Laštuvka & Laštuvka (1997), Lhomme (1934d), Maček (1999a), Matošević, Pernek, Dubravac & Barić (2009a), Michalska (1970a, 1972a, 1976a), Michna (1975a), Navickaitė, Diškus & Stonis (2011a, 2014a), van Nieukerken (1986a), van Nieukerken, A & Z Laštuvka (2006a), van Nieukerken, Mutanen & Doorenweerd (2012a), Nowakowski (1954a), De Prins (2007a), Robbins (1991a), Skala (1939a, 1941a, 1951a), Sønderup (1949a), Stammer (2016a), Starý (1930a), Steuer (1995a), Stonis, Navickaitė, Rocienė ao (2013a), Surányi (1942a), Szőcs (1977a, 1978a, 1981a), Ureche (2010a), Yefremova & Kravchenko (2015a), Zoerner (1969a, 1970a).