Iris foetidissima, Slovenia © Gabrijel Seljak

puparia

mine

Two to 12 eggs are separately inserted in a leaf, not far from the apex. The young larvae begin making a short, narrow, corridor that runs upwards. Soon the direction revers, the corridors quickly become wider and fuse. The result is a large blotchy mine, generally containing several larvae (Venturi, 1946b). The mine is very inconstant in depth, making it to vary, in look through, from green to almost vitreous. Mines contain several lumps of frass. Pupation in the mine. The puparia lie close together in a row, in the lowest part of the mine, oriented perpendicularly to the leaf length.

host plants

Iridaceae, monophagous

Iris foetidissima, orientalis, spuria.

Also on other garden irises; not on I. pseudacorus.

phenology

Larvae from June-October (Nowakowski, 1973a). In Italy two generations (Venturi, 1946b).

BENELUX

Not recorded in the Benelux countries; this probably is a matter of time, because the species occurs in the surrounding countries, sometimes even attaining pest status (Spencer, 1973b).

distribution within Europe

UK, Germany, France, Italy, Hungary and Portugal (Fauna Europaea); als Czechia, Slovenia.

larva

Described by Nowakowski (1973a).

synonyms

Phytobia iridis; Ph. iridophaga Hendel, 1931.

parasitoids, predators

Hemiptarsenus unguicellus.

notes

Member of the subgenus Dizymomyza (Nowakowski, 1973a).

references

Bouček (1959a), Černý (2013a), Griffiths (1962a), Hering (1957a), Nowakowski (1973a), Papp & Černý (2016a), Robbins (1991a), Spencer (1953a, 1954d, 1972a, 1973b), Süss (1982a), von Tschirnhaus (1999a), Vála & Rohacek (1983a)