Morphology and feeding behaviour of the leaf-mining larva of Cheilosia semifasciata (Diptera: Syrphidae)

In North Wales the larva of Cheilosia semifasciata (Diptera: Syrphidae) makes full-depth blotch mines in leaves of Umbilicus rupestris. Mines occur mostly on shaded plants with one larva per plant. Each larva mines several leaves to complete development and initiates new mines by curling round the leaf margin and puncturing the epidermis under the leaf. Unlike other dipteran leaf-miners which feed on their sides, only the thorax is turned sideways when feeding. The larva uses a grasping organ on the anal segment to grip the substrate when moving externally on the food-plant. Inside leaf mines, position is further secured by the integumental vestiture which grips the epidermis above the larva. The morphology and behaviour of the larva of C. semifasciata differs markedly from larvae of three congeneric species that tunnel in stems and roots.     

A revision of the new riodinid butterfly genus Pseudotinea (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)

A revision of the new South American riodinid genus Pseudotinea is presented that includes taxonomic and ecological notes, distributional data and illustrations of adults and genital structures for all species. The systematic position of Pseudotinea within the Riodinidae, its ecology and biogeography are discussed. Five species are recognized: volcanicus Callaghan and Salazar, hemis Schaus and caprina Hewitson are transferred from Calydna (comb. n.) and two new species, P. eiselei and P. gagarini, are described here. The genus is confined to the Andes and south-east Brazil where all species are very rare and many endangered.