Nomenclature

Liriomyza pusilla (Meigen 1830)

Agromyza pusilla Meigen 1830
Agromyza fasciola Meigen 1838
Liriomyza bellidis de Meijere 1925 [As ssp. of L. fasciola (Meigen)]
Liriomyza compositella Spencer 1961

Synonymy of L. compositella outlined by Spencer (1990).

Hosts

Liriomyza pusilla is found on Asteraceae (Spencer 1990).

Distribution

Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan
Europe: Albania, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey (European), United Kingdom
Oceania: Australia (Lord Howe Island)

Key characters

Frons and orbits yellow, inner vertical bristles on yellow ground and outer on dark ground, hind margin of eye black, mesonotum black and shiny, femora yellow, tibiae and tarsi dark brown. Third antennal segment round. Wing length in male 1.6 mm and in female 1.9 mm, last section of CuA₁ is 2.5 times length of penultimate section. Puparium orange and with posterior spiracles each with 3 bulbs.

Notes

Sasakawa (1963) recorded a female fly (as L. compositella) from Biak Island, Indonesia. This record needs to be confirmed by collection of male flies.  Spencer (1963) recorded L. pusilla (as L. compositella) on Lord Howe Island but not mainland Australia. Spencer (1977) noted that flies from India and Lord Howe Island were identical.  Spencer (1990) synonymised L. compositella (which was found widely in tropical and sub-tropical areas in the Oriental region) with L. pusilla (which was found in Europe). Further study of this widespread species with molecular markers would be justified to clarify the taxonomic situation. Records of L. pusilla from USA were mis-identifications of L. sativae (Spencer 1973).

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References

Meigen JW (1830). Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europ�ischen zweifl�geligen Insekten. Sechster Theil mit zw�lf Kupfertafeln 6: 166-196.

Meigen JW (1838). Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europ�ischen zweifl�geligen Insekten. Siebenter Theil oder Supplementband. 7: 396-407.

Meijere JCH de (1925). Die Larven der Agromyzinen. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 68: 195-293.

Sasakawa M (1963). Papuan Agromyzidae (Diptera) Pacific Insects 5: 797-835.

Spencer KA (1961). Some interesting Agromyzidae from Yugoslavia, including the description of two new species. The Entomologist 1961: 53-58.

Spencer KA (1963). The Australian Agromyzidae (Diptera: Insecta). Records of the Australian Museum 25: 305-354.

Spencer KA (1977). A revision of the Australian Agromyzidae (Diptera). Special Publication. Western Australian Museum 8: 1-255.

Spencer KA (1990). Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera). Series Entomologica 45. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. 444 pp.

WWW Resources

Liriomyza pusilla in Edmunds R et al. (2008). British leafminers

Liriomyza pusilla in Pitkin B, Ellis W, Plant C & Edmunds (2008). The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

Liriomyza pusilla in Ellis WN (2018). Plant Parasites of Europe - leafminers, galls and fungi

Liriomyza pusilla in Martinez M (2007). Fauna Europaea: Agromyzidae. In Pape T (ed.) (2007) Fauna Europaea: Diptera: Brachycera. Version 1.3 [128221]