Black Locust Leafminer

Appearance

The wingspan is 5.5 to 6.5 mm. There are two to three generations per year.

Distribution

It is native to North America , but is an introduced species in Europe, where it was first
reported near Basel, Switzerland, in 1983. Later, it was also reported in
France, Germany, northern Italy , Austria , and Slovakia . It spread gradually through Austria, reaching Hungary in the mid 1990s.

Evolution

The larvae feed on ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', ''Robinia viscosa'' and ''Robinia hispida''. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine begins as an elongate serpentine track which enlarges to an elongate-oval, whitish blotch located on one side of the midrib and usually on the underside of the leaflet. Eventually the mine becomes slightly tentiform due to the silk laid down by the later instar larvae. There are five larval instars. The earliest instars are highly modified sapfeeders with strongly depressed bodies and reduced chaetotaxy with a maximum length 3.7 mm. Later instars are tissue feeders, with cylindrical bodies and a maximum length of 4.7 mm. The body colour is pale green to white.