Leaf mines on buckeye tree leaves - Phytomyza aesculi

Moved

Moved from Linear mines on Aesculus.

… Charley Eiseman, 14 September, 2018 - 8:05am

Moved

Moved from Leaf Miner Flies.

… Charley Eiseman, 14 February, 2015 - 6:56pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Charley Eiseman, 15 May, 2014 - 9:17pm

Please collect as many as you can!

I thought I remembered there being a Stigmella on buckeye, but in my notes I only have a Cameraria and a Caloptilia. Neither of those would make a linear mine like this. It doesn't look like a Stigmella mine either, although those are linear. This appears to be an agromyzid mine, and there is no agromyzid in the world recorded from Aesculus.

Keep the leaves in a tightly sealed container to retain moisture. The larvae will probably exit before forming puparia, and if that happens let me know and I can advise you on what to do next. Also please get pictures of whatever comes out so we can be sure what it is.

… Charley Eiseman, 14 May, 2014 - 6:24am

leaves with mines

Interesting!! Collected more leaves with mines today. Put a couple of the buckeye leaves in ziplock bags and have several of those bags. Will let you know what I find.
About how long before you would expect them to start hatching?

I only have a 100mm macro lens, not a microscope camera, but will do the best I can with the photos.

… Moni Hayne, 14 May, 2014 - 10:36pm

Great!

I would expect the larva to emerge from the mine in this photo any day now. It should form a puparium within a few hours of that. The adults might emerge from the puparia in a few weeks, if we're lucky... but there's a reasonable chance they might not emerge till next spring.

By the way, is this Aesculus glabra, or something else?

… Charley Eiseman, 14 May, 2014 - 10:40pm

Yes

It is Aesculus glabra, American or Ohio buckeye.

Looked at a few of the mines and think perhaps the one I sent in has already hatched...there was not a larvae in it. But did find one with a larvae in it. It was a leaf that had what looked like an old mine next to the newer mine. Does that make sense? Do then move over to make new mines or is that another larvae that just happened on the leaf?
There are probably more but did not have time to look further yet.

Will let you know when I find something.

… Moni Hayne, 15 May, 2014 - 6:12pm

Switching mines

Some leaf miners can do that, but probably not this one. It's not unusual to find mines of multiple larvae in the same leaf (depending on species).

I thought I was seeing a yellowish larva at the end of this mine, but maybe not.

… Charley Eiseman, 15 May, 2014 - 6:31pm

Good to know

Do you want me to add a pic of the leaf with the larvae to this post?

… Moni Hayne, 15 May, 2014 - 6:44pm

Larva pic

That would be great! Sometimes you can get a clearer shot of the larva by holding the leaf up to a bright light (backlit), or maybe it's close enough to the epidermis that we can see what it is in reflected light.

… Charley Eiseman, 15 May, 2014 - 6:50pm

Thx

Yes, did figure that out today. Will add it.

… Moni Hayne, 15 May, 2014 - 6:54pm