Phytomyza ilicis Curtis

Guglya, Yuliia, 2021, Rearing mining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from host plants as an instrument for associating females with males, with the description of seven new species, Zootaxa 5014 (1), pp. 1-158 : 70-71

Phytomyza ilicis Curtis

( Figs. 202–206 , 577–581 )

Material examined: The Netherlands: Gelderland: Wageningen , 51°59’N, 5°40’E, 11–15.iv.2019, A. Gumovsky, ex Ilex aquifolium (9♂ 7♀) .

Host. Aquifoliaceae : Ilex aquifolium L. ( Spencer 1990).

Mine. ( Fig. 202 ) The solitary larva forms a reddish-yellow upper surface blotch mine. Normally, the mine is scarcely visible from the underside of the leaf. Pupation takes place within the mine, mainly on underside of the leaf, in a “pupal blister” ( Fig. 203 ).

Puparium. ( Figs. 204–206 ) Orange-brown, glossy, 3.6 mm long, with distinct but shallow segmentation; surface quite smooth except for wide bands of fine spines and the last two abdominal segments finely wrinkled. Posterior spiracles set on short conical protuberances that are entirely separate; black, glossy, with several fine sessile bulbs arranged in irregular group. Anal plate distinctly protruding above the surface of the puparium viewed from the side and directed ventro-posteriorly.

Cephalopharyngeal skeleton. ( Fig. 577 ) Right mouthhook larger than the left, each rounded ventrally and bearing two accessory teeth strongly different in size. Intermediate sclerite long and straight, 1.3× as long as maximum height of left mouthhook. The mouthhook, most of the intermediate sclerite and the dorsal cornu centrally are strongly sclerotized; the intermediate sclerite dorsally, the ventral cornu and the dorsal cornu dorso-anteriorly and ventrally are much less so. The ventral cornu bears a small, narrow “closed” window in the posterior half. Indentation index 82.

Female head. ( Figs. 578, 579 ) Yellowish-brown, with only antenna and postgena brown; orbit not projecting above eye in profile; 3 orb s, 2 fr s; lunule of medium height, narrowing posteriorly, reaching the level between the 1 st and the 2 nd orb s; pped of medium size, rounded; gena medially 0.3× as high as maximum height of eye.

Female genitalia. ( Figs. 580, 581 ) Capsule of spermatheca relatively small, 0.14× as high as height of anterior part of oviscape. Spermathecae equal in size, brown, oval; smaller one with narrow rim-shaped basal collar. Spermathecal duct weakly sclerotized. Ventral receptacle compressed S-shaped, with well sclerotized taol that is two-bladed and widening apically. Body of ventral receptacle spherical with short, wide and sharply curved basal connecting tube, strongly sclerotized, 1.8× as wide as capsule of spermatheca; with opening 0.62× as wide as diameter of spherical part of body.

Distribution. Occurs in the Palaearctic in Belgium, British Isles, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden Switzerland ( Papp & Černý 2019), Sicily and the Netherlands ( Pape 2014). In the Nearctic, it occurs in Canada and the United States ( Papp & Černý 2019).

Figures

FIGURES 202–210. Figures 202–206: Phytomyza ilicis Curtis; 202: mines in Ilex aquifolium leaf; 203: “pupal blister” with puparium; 204–205: posterior segments of puparium; 204: lateral view; 205: posterior view. 206: posterior spiracles (posterior view). Figures 207–210: P. lappae Goureau; 207: mines in Arctium lappae leaf; 208–209: posterior segments of puparium; 208: lateral view; 209: posterior view. 210: posterior spiracles (posterior view).

FIGURES 577–581. Phytomyza ilicis Curtis; 577: cephalopharyngeal skeleton; 578: frontal view of head; 579: head viewed from the side; 580: oviscape, ventral receptacle and spermathecae proportionally; 581 a–b: spermatheca and ventral receptacle proportionally; a: spermathecae; b: ventral receptacle.