The holly leaf miner : Phytomyza ilicis
by Chris, 18 January, 2012, 0 comments
Phytomyza ilicis is a (dipteran) fly that lays its eggs in holly leaves. It is one of the few insects that is able to make use of holly leaves as a food source and somewhere to live (when a larva). The female fly lays eggs in the holly leaf (near the main veins or midrib – on the underside) using a thin tube or ovipositor. The eggs are usually laid in early Spring when there are young and ‘soft’ leaves. Older leaves have a thick and tough cuticle that is far more difficult to penetrate. The larvae or maggots emerge from the eggs and tunnel their way along the midrib / veins emerging some time later into the lamina or blade of the leaf. Here they feed on the photosynthetic tissues of the leaf – the palisade and mesophyll layers, creating a leaf mine (see featured image above). The number of leaf mines per leaf is a maximum of three and often just 1 or two. Read more...
