Agromyza abiens/myosotidis/lithospermi agg.

The larvae of Agromyza abiens, Agromyza myosotidis and Agromyza lithospermi produce identical mines on the leaves of several larval food plants in the Boraginaeceae family, such as Borage, Comfrey and Green Alkanet.  Many other host plants are known, including non-native plants cultivated in gardens; for a full list and further detailed information please refer to the National Agromyzidae Recording Scheme website 

The initial narrow gallery contains frass in a double line, which it then expands to form a blotch mine. Several larvae may occupy a leaf to form a large blotch.

Because the mines on these plants cannot be reliably separated to species level we have created this page which treats them as an aggregate. To identify them to species level, it is usually necessary to rear the adult and have your identification confirmed by an expert; there is further information on the website cited above.

Note: the NBN does not currently have an entry for this aggregate so NBN data cannot be displayed on the distribution maps below.

See the National Agromyzidae Recording Scheme website for further details of larva, adult insect and host plants for each species.

Agromyza ferruginosa, Agromyza lithospermi, Agromyza myosotidis, Agromyza pseudorufipes, Phytomyza medicaginis.

Leaf-mine Adult

Leafmine: Provide a backlit photograph of the whole leaf-mine and leaf, and note the host plant

Where the larval foodplants occur.

Refer to individual species pages on the National Agromyzidae Recording Scheme website for details of phenology

Common as an aggregate.

Warrington, B. P. 2022. A provisional review of the status of Agromyzidae in Great Britain & Northern Ireland

The species aggregate is fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland; the distribution of the individual species is unknown because they have rarely been recorded to this level.