Leaf miner
Leaf miners are insect larvae that live within leaf tissue. Many cause damage to garden plants and crops.
Like wood borers, leaf miners are difficult to control as they are protected from insecticide sprays and plant defenses by feeding within the tissues of the leaves themselves, selectively eating only the layers that have the least amount of cellulose. The precise pattern formed by the feeding tunnel is very often diagnostic for which kind of insect is responsible, sometimes even to genus level. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera) and flies (Diptera), though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.
Leaf miners
- Agromyzidae (Leaf miner flies)
- Douglasiidae
- Gracillariidae
- Horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella)
- Tenthredinidae (some species)
- Tinagma (largest genus of Douglasiidae)
- Tischerioidea (Trumpet leaf-miner moths)
See also
Categories
Pest insects