Forest Invasive Alien Species
www.exoticpests.gc.ca
Established Insects
- Ambermarked birch leafminer
- Balsam woolly adelgid
- Beech scale
- Birch casebearer
- Birch leafminer
- Black stem borer
- Common pine shoot beetle
- Eastern spruce gall adelgid
- Elm leaf beetle
- European pine sawfly
- European pine shoot moth
- European pineneedle midge
- European spruce sawfly
- Gypsy moth
- Introduced pine sawfly
- Larch casebearer
- Larch sawfly
- Lombardy leafminer
- Mountain ash sawfly
- Pear thrips
- Rusty tussock moth
- Smaller European elm bark beetle
- Winter moth
Lombardy leafminer
Eggs spread out on a poplar leaf
Tunnel opened to show larva
Track followed by the larva inside the poplar leaf (gallery)
Leaf attacked by several larvae (several galleries)
Pupa in opening bored at the end of the larval mine
Adult near the pupa
Taxonomy
Description
Distribution Map
Main host(s)
Eastern cottonwood, Lombardy poplar, trembling aspen
Diet and feeding behavior
Phytophagous / Phyllophagous / Miner
Micro-habitat(s)
Leaf
Distribution
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec
Damage, symptoms and biology
Small mines on the upper surface of the leaves are evidence of the presence of Lombardy leafminer. The larvae produce mines by feeding on the parenchymal cells of the leaves. As the larvae mature, the mines expand and the affected leaves turns light green. The damage caused by this insect does not affect tree survival.
The larvae are active from June to October. When fully grown, they vacate the mine by cutting a semi-circular slit in the mined leaf. They transform into a small oval pupae either in the opening made at the end of the larval gallery or at the surface of the leaf. The pupae, which often remain suspended to the leaf until fall, drop to the ground, where they generally overwinter. They transform into adults the following spring.
The larvae are active from June to October. When fully grown, they vacate the mine by cutting a semi-circular slit in the mined leaf. They transform into a small oval pupae either in the opening made at the end of the larval gallery or at the surface of the leaf. The pupae, which often remain suspended to the leaf until fall, drop to the ground, where they generally overwinter. They transform into adults the following spring.
Comments
Native to Europe, the Lombardy leafminer was first reported in Canada in 1956 on Lombardy poplars in Quebec City. It has subsequently been reported in southern Ontario and several parts of Quebec. The insect appears to be well established in eastern Canada.
No control measures are warranted since the damage generally occurs near the end of the growing season.
No control measures are warranted since the damage generally occurs near the end of the growing season.
