Leaf miner insect, La Isla Escondida, Colombia

Moving back into my set to the morning, as I forgot to add this one. This looks like the work of a leafminer insect. My understanding of them is limited, but I've read there's both ant and fly species showing this feeding behavior during their larva stage.

comments (17)

Christine Young

Lion

You don't know the plant, do you? Leaf miners can often be IDed based on the plant and the type of mine. Also, do you have any shots of the other side of the leaf? Some miners consume the entire parenchyma and thus the tunnels are visible on both sides of the leaf. But, other miners will only consume the top of the parenchyma and so the tunnels are only seen from the top of the leaf.The mines on this leaf are linear and end in a blotch, which means that the larva(e) basically made a straight trail. My guess would be that this was caused by an agromyzid fly (linear mines ending in a blotch with no distinct frass line). But, I could be wrong! Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Oh, and this shot is awesome! I love it! Posted 6 years ago
2. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Sorry, don't know the plant or have another angle, I really should have in hindsight! This album by Andreas shows a few examples in roughly the same region:
  https://www.flickr.com/photos/andreaskay/albums/72157629430119081
  
  He seems to call his examples caused by ants. Feels like a guess to me? Posted 6 years ago
3. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    I can't find where it says "ant" on his page...It does say "art"... Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      Oh wow, embarrassing. Sorry, sometimes I rush through things so fast that I develop a spontaneous dyslexic syndrome. Posted 6 years ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        It happens to everyone ;) Posted 6 years ago

Flown Kimmerling

Lion

Beautiful! Posted 6 years ago

ceiseman

Green Fly

(Disregard this comment--see below.) Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago

ceiseman

Green Fly

There are no leaf-mining ants. Leafminers are larvae of moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies. I only know North American leafminer species, but I would bet that this is a moth in the family Gracillariidae, genus Phyllocnistis (or something closely related). Agromyzid flies that make linear mines almost always deposit frass in a pattern than alternates from one side of the mine to the other; in these mines there is a faint, continuous central line. There is one North American Phyllocnistis species that makes a circular pupal chamber at the end of the mine like this (on plants in the avocado family). This genus is extremely diverse in Central and South America, with dozens (hundreds?) of undescribed species. If you were able to determine what this plant is you could check http://www.gracillariidae.net to see if any gracillariids are known to feed on it.

(Sorry for the double post; I was just trying to clean up the HTML code once I realized it doesn't work here.) Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks so much for the info Charley! By the way, Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates is my FAVORITE reference book and I have literally read it all the way through...But, I probably should have spent more time on the leaf-miner section ;). Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. ceiseman
    
    Green Fly
    
    Glad you like the book! I decided I should have spent more time on the leafminer section too, so now I've spent the past seven years focusing on them! Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      That's awesome! I know very little about them so far, but love finding them in addition to all insect sign. So much fun! Posted 6 years ago
    2. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      I, or perhaps better said we, love deep specialists. What fascinates you so much about leafminers, if I may ask? Posted 6 years ago
3. Flown Kimmerling
  
  Lion
  
  Welcome to JungleDragon, and thank you so much for your input! Fascinating! Posted 6 years ago
4. 1. ceiseman
    
    Green Fly
    
    Thank you! I get a Google alert whenever anyone mentions leafminers on the internet, and when I saw these dazzling mines I couldn't resist chiming in! Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      We have a list here that includes a lot of insect sign (and other wildlife as well). Here's the link in case you're interested in checking it out:
      
      Signs of Wildlife
      Posted 6 years ago
5. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks for chipping in! The mistake is mine, I misread "ant" where it was saying "art".
  Still, it got you here :) Posted 6 years ago

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By Ferdy Christant

Uploaded Nov 28, 2018. Captured Oct 17, 2018 08:59.

Explore Colombia 8,347 2,815 0

NIKON D850
f/16.0
1/60s
ISO64
105mm

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