Artemisia vulgaris, Belgium, Vogenée (Walcourt), Réserve Natagora de la vallée de l’Eau d’Yves © Jean-Pierre Duvivier

mine

The mine begins as en elongated blotch overlying a strong vein; from there broad tunnels radiate that coalesce in the end. All frass is concentrated at a central point in the floor of the mine. As a result the mine has a brownish-black centre and a paler brownish green seam. The larva often (perhaps always at daylight) rests in the centre of the mine. Primary and secondary feeding lines as a rule quite clear. Pupation outside the mine.

host plants

Asteraceae, oligophagous

Achillea biserrata, ptarmica; Artemisia absinthium, gnaphalioides, moxa, verlotiorum, vulgaris; Chrysanthemum indicum; Eupatorium cannabinum; Senecio nemorensis; Tanacetum corymbosum, macrophyllum, parthenium, vulgare.

phenology

Larvae from June till September (Hering, 1957a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Leclercq & De Bruyn, 1991a).

NE recorded (de Meijere, 1939a; van Aartsen & Smit, 2002).

LUX recorded (Ellis, Hobscheid).

distribution within Europe

All of Europe west of Vienna; also Bulgaria, therefore the range probably covers a much larger area (Fauna Europaea, 2008).

larva

puparium

notes

Very common; not infrequently all leaves of a plant are infested, and many leaf segments of each individual leaf. Despite the ubiquicity of the mines adult flies are captured only rarely (Kabos & van Aartsen, 1984a; Wakkie, 1994a). In the past a pest on Chrysanthemum.

Sometimes, especially on Tanacetum, the mines may be unusually large. For a number of years I have assumed that these were mines of T. zoe, but the constant absence of a narrow initial corridor has convinced me that these too are mines of artemisiae.

same mine, from above

references

van Aartsen & Smit (2002a). Ahr (1966a), Baugnée (2006a, 2009a), Beiger (1955a, 1960a, 1965a, 1970a, 1979a), Bland (1994b), Buhr (1933a, 1941b, 1964a), van Frankenhuyzen, Houtman & Kabos (1982a), Groppe (1988a), Haase (1942a), Hartig (1939a), Hering (1921a, 1930b, 1937b, 1957a), Huber (1969a), Kabos & van Aartsen (1984a), Kassebeer (2015a), Kvičala (1938a), Leclercq & De Bruyn (1991a), Lutovinovas (2014a), Maček (1999a), de Meijere (1895a, 1939a), Merz (1999a), Merz & Kofler (2008a), Michalska (1970a, 1972a, 1976a), Morris (2021a), Nowakowski (1954a), Ostrauskas, Pakalniškis & Taluntytė (2003a), Pakalniškis (1983a), Robbins (1991a), Rösch & Schmitz (2014a), Skala & Zavřel (1945a), Smit (2010a), Sønderup (1949a), Starý (1930a), Surányi (1942a), Wakkie (1994a), White (1988a), Zoerner (1969a, 1970a).