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, the mother clade of wasps), 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. [1]
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. [2] [3]
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. [4] [5]
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. [6]
Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described.
Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the source of a number of variegated houseplants. Variegation is caused by mutations that affect chlorophyll production or by viruses, such as mosaic viruses, which have been studied by scientists. The striking look of variegated plants is desired by many gardeners, and some have deliberately tried to induce it for aesthetic purposes. There are a number of gardening books about variegated plants, and some gardening societies specialize in them.
Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter.
The silverleaf whitefly is one of several species of whitefly that are currently important agricultural pests. A review in 2011 concluded that the silverleaf whitefly is actually a species complex containing at least 40 morphologically indistinguishable species.
A Biopesticide is a biological substance or organism that damages, kills, or repels organisms seens as pests. Biological pest management intervention involves predatory, parasitic, or chemical relationships.
The light brown apple moth is a leafroller moth belonging to the lepidopteran family Tortricidae.
The Agromyzidae are a family of flies, commonly referred to as the leaf-miner flies for the feeding habits of their larvae, most of which are leaf miners on various plants. It includes roughly 2,500 species, they are small, some with wing length of 1 mm. The maximum size is 6.5 mm. Most species are in the range of 2 to 3 mm.
Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella.
Birch leafminers are sawflies, which are closely related to bees and wasps. They are among the most common insect pests affecting birch trees in North America. The primary species affecting birch trees in North America are Profenusa thomsoni and Fenusa pumila. Areas inside the leaves are consumed by the larvae, affecting the leaves' ability to produce food. Yearly browning of birch leaves are noticed in mid July and August, but the leafminers have been feeding inside the leaf tissue since early spring.
The serpentine leaf miner is the larva of a fly, Liriomyza brassicae, in the family Agromyzidae, the leaf miner flies. It mines wild and cultivated plants, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Chinese broccoli.
Phyllocnistis citrella, the citrus leafminer, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is also known as CLM in agriculture. It was described by Henry Tibbats Stainton from India in 1856. It was first found in Florida, United States, in 1993, but is now found all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Corsica, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, Israel, Madeira, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka and other parts of the United States.
Phyllonorycter blancardella, the spotted tentiform leafminer, is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from all of Europe, east to Ukraine and central Anatolia. It is also known throughout North America including Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Wisconsin and California.
Phyllocnistis hyperpersea is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found from Nansemond and Virginia Beach Counties in Virginia, south along the lowland Atlantic coastal region to the Florida Everglades. It might have a much wider range, since material which might belong to this species has been recorded from Honduras and Mexico.
Phyllocnistis subpersea is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found in the Dade and Monroe Counties of Florida. Mines of what appear to be this species have been found as far north as the Green Swamp in coastal South Carolina.
Phyllocnistis perseafolia is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known only from the type locality in the Department of Caldas, west-central Colombia, but probably widespread over northern South America wherever avocado is cultivated.
Phytomyza horticola is a species of leaf-mining fly in the family Agromyzidae of the order Diptera. For a time it was treated as Chromatomyia horticola, but its original name has been restored after genus Chromatomyia was synonymized with Phytomyza. The species is a pest of high economic importance affecting the vegetable crops in temperate and tropical regions.
Liriomyza sativae, commonly known as the vegetable leaf miner, is a species of insect, a fly in the family Agromyzidae. The larvae of this fly mine the leaves of a range of vegetables and weeds, but seem to favour plants in the families Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae.
Liriomyza huidobrensis, commonly known as the pea leaf miner, is a species of insect, a fly in the family Agromyzidae. The larvae of this fly mine the leaves and stems of peas and a range of other vegetables. It is also known as the serpentine leaf miner, but this name is also used for a closely related species, Liriomyza brassicae.
Liriomyza trifolii, known generally as the American serpentine leafminer or celery leafminer, is a species of leaf miner fly in the family Agromyzidae.
Profenusa thomsoni, the amber-marked birch leaf miner, is a species of sawfly in the family Tenthredinidae. It is native to the Palearctic realm but has spread to North America. The larvae feed on the foliage of birch trees.