Liriomyza baptisiae (Frost)

Eiseman, Charles S. & Lonsdale, Owen, 2018, New state and host records for Agromyzidae (Diptera) in the United States, with the description of thirty new species, Zootaxa 4479 (1), pp. 1-156 : 47

Liriomyza baptisiae (Frost)

Material examined. CALIFORNIA: Napa / Lake Co., McLaughlin Reserve , 3.vii.2015, em. vii.2015, E. LoPresti, ex Thermopsis macrophylla , #CSE1901, CNC564613 (1♀) .

Hosts. Fabaceae : Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br., Lupinus argenteus Pursh ssp. argenteus var. laxiflorus (Douglas ex Lindl.) Dorn , L. latifolius Lindl. ex J. Agardh , L. pratensis A. Heller , Thermopsis * macrophylla Hook. & Arn. , T. rhombifolia (Nutt. ex Pursh) Nutt. ex Richardson ( Spencer 1969, 1981; Lonsdale 2017). We have found similar leaf mines on Baptisia alba (L.) Vent.

Leaf mine. Upper surface linear-blotch, greenish when fresh; frass in grains and strips along the sides of the linear portion, irregularly deposited in the blotch. In the mines we examined on Thermopsis , the blotch sometimes obliterated the linear portion, and sometimes much of the linear portion was on the lower surface.

Puparium. Yellowish; formed outside the mine.

Distribution. USA: AK, CA, CO, MT, PA, WA; Canada: AB, BC, MB, SK. The record of MO ( Lonsdale 2017) is erroneous; MT was intended. We have found probable mines of Liriomyza baptisiae on Baptisia spp. in IA, MA, and WI.

Comments. Liriomyza baptisiae is the only Nearctic agromyzid known to feed on Thermopsis , now having been reared from this host in Alberta and California. On Thermopsis in Colorado we have found similar linearblotch mines produced by solitary larvae, as well as a single example of a puffy primary blotch mine, ultimately occupying nearly the entire leaflet, produced by five larvae feeding together. The latter mine had fine, granular frass scattered throughout. The puparia were yellow as with L. baptisiae , suggesting another Liriomyza species, but we were unable to rear adults.