leaf miner

{{Short description|Larva of an insect that lives in and eats the leaf tissue of plants}}

Image:Phyllocnistis hyperpersea mine.JPG on a Persea borbonia leaf]]

Image:Cryptocarya foveolata from Cobark Park Barrington Tops.jpg cool temperate rainforest. Note the initial thin width of the insect trail, becoming wider as the insect grows while it navigates around the leaf. Cryptocarya foveolata from Cobark Park, Barrington Tops, Australia]]

A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which Apocrita (wasps, bees and ants) evolved from), and flies (Diptera). Some beetles also exhibit this behavior.

Like woodboring beetles, leaf miners are protected from many predators and plant defenses by feeding within the tissues of the leaves, selectively eating only the layers that have the least amount of cellulose. When consuming Quercus robur (English oak), they also selectively feed on tissues containing lower levels of tannin, a deterrent chemical produced in great abundance by the tree.{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3544471 | jstor=3544471 | title=Abundances and Diversity of Leaf-Mining Insects on Three Oak Host Species: Effects of Host-Plant Phenology and Nitrogen Content of Leaves | last1=Faeth | first1=Stanley H. | last2=Mopper | first2=Susan | last3=Simberloff | first3=Daniel | journal=Oikos | date=1981 | volume=37 | issue=2 | pages=238–251 | doi=10.2307/3544471 | url-access=subscription }}

The pattern of the feeding tunnel and the layer of the leaf being mined is often diagnostic of the insect responsible, sometimes even to species level. The mine often contains frass, or droppings, and the pattern of frass deposition, mine shape, and host plant identity are useful to determine the species and instar of the leaf miner. Some mining insects feed in other parts of a plant, such as the surface of a fruit or the petal of a flower.

It has been suggested that some patterns of leaf variegation may be part of a defensive strategy employed by plants to deceive adult leaf miners into thinking that a leaf has already been preyed upon.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8108000/8108940.stm |title=The plant that pretends to be ill |last1=Walker |first1=Matt |date=19 June 2009 |website=BBC News |access-date=13 April 2016 }}{{cite journal |last1=Soltau |first1=U. |last2=Dötterl |first2=S. |last3=Liede-Schumann |first3=S. |date=2009 |title=Leaf variegation in Caladium steudneriifolium (Araceae) – A case of mimicry? |journal=Evolutionary Ecology |volume=23 |issue= 4|pages=503–512 |doi=10.1007/s10682-008-9248-2 |s2cid=5033305 }}

Relationship with humans

Image:Cameraria ohridella 8419.jpg (adult)]]

Leaf miners are regarded as pests by many farmers and gardeners as they can cause damage to agricultural crops and garden plants, and can be difficult to control with insecticide sprays as they are protected inside the plant's leaves. Spraying the infected plants with spinosad, an organic insecticide, can control some leaf miners. Spinosad does not kill on contact and must be ingested by the leaf miner. Two or three applications may be required in a season. However, this will have harmful ecological effects, especially if sprayed when bees or other beneficial arthropods are present.{{cite journal |last1=Tomé |first1=Hudson Vaner |last2=Barbosa |first2=Wagner |last3=Martins |first3=Gustavo F. |last4=Guedes |first4=Raul Narciso |title=Spinosad in the native stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata: Regrettable non-target toxicity of a bioinsecticide |journal=Chemosphere |year=2015 |volume=124 |pages=105–109 |doi=10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.11.038 |pmid=25496737 |bibcode=2015Chmsp.124..103T |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653514013563 |access-date=4 September 2021|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Pasquet |first1=Alain |last2=Tupiner |first2=Nora |last3=Mazzia |first3=Christophe |last4=Capowiez |first4=Yvan |title=Exposure to spinosad affects orb-web spider (Agalenatea redii) survival, web construction and prey capture under laboratory conditions |journal=Journal of Pest Science |date=August 25, 2015 |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=507–515 |doi=10.1007/s10340-015-0691-x |s2cid=6156257 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-015-0691-x |access-date=4 September 2021}}

Leaf miner infection of crops can be reduced or prevented by planting trap crops near the plants to be protected. For example, lambsquarter and columbine will distract leaf miners, drawing them to those plants and therefore reducing the incidence of attack on nearby crops. This is a method of companion planting.{{cite web |title=Companion planting and trap cropping vegetables |url=https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/companion-planting-and-trap-cropping-vegetables |website=University of Minnesota Extension }}

File:Phyllocnistis magnoliella caterpillar. leaf mine.jpg in magnolia leaf.]]

References

External links

[http://www.leafmines.co.uk/ British leafminers] - many of which are distributed widely across Europe.
[http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/index.php The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects]. Includes illustrated keys for identification of mines by host-plant genus and detailed descriptions of over 900 species along with their distribution in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and elsewhere.
[http://www.bladmineerders.nl/ Leafminers of Europe] - covers over 1800 leafmining insect species.
[http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/woodypest/leafmine.htm Leafminers of southeastern U.S. woody ornamentals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220071353/http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/woodypest/leafmine.htm |date=2012-02-20 }} on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
[http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/a_serpentine_leafminer.htm Liriomyza trifolii, American serpentine leafminer]
[http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/vegetable_leafminer.htm Liriomyza sativae, vegetable leafminer]
[http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/citrus_leafminer.htm Phyllocnistis citrella, citrus leafminer]
[http://cisr.ucr.edu/citrus_leafminer.html CISR: Citrus Leaf Miner] Center for Invasive Species Research page on Citrus Leaf Miner

Category:Agricultural pest insects

Category:Folivores

Category:Leaf miners

leaf miner

Relationship with humans

See also

References

External links