Liriomyza trifolii

American serpentine leaf miner

Larva of the American serpentine leafminer Liriomyza trifolii
Larva of the American serpentine leafminer Liriomyza trifolii

General

The American serpentine leaf miner (Liriomyza trifolii) originates from North America, but occurs also in Europe since about 1976. The American serpentine leaf miner (Liriomyza trifolii) is highly polyphagous and thus lives on many host plants such as chrysanthemum, gerbera, gypsophila, celery, sweet pepper, pea, bean and potato. In greenhouses, it is mainly found on gerbera and chrysanthemum. Today the insect is widespread across the whole world.

About American serpentine leaf miner

Life cycle and appearance of American serpentine leaf miner

The life cycle of a leaf miner has the following stages: egg, three larval instars, a pupal instar and the adult fly. Adult leaf miners are small yellow and black coloured flies, at most only several millimetres long. When the adult females feed or lay eggs, they bore a hole using their toothed ovipositor, usually in the upper side of the leaf. Egg spots are oval and hard to distinguish from feeding spots.

The larvae of Liriomyza trifolii are entirely ochre-yellow. When the larva hatches from the egg, it begins to eat into the leaf at once, tunnelling down into the mesophyll tissue where damage is caused by extensive mines, leaving the outer layers of the leaf intact. Shortly before pupating, the grown larva cuts a sickle-shaped exit hole in the leaf with its mouth parts. After roughly one hour the larva crawls out of the leaf and falls to the ground. This occurs in the early morning. The larva crawls into the ground to pupate. A small percentage of the larvae remain hanging on the leaf and pupate there.

How to get rid of American serpentine leaf miner