Preferred name: Liriomyza sativae
Authority: Blanchard
Taxonomic position: Animalia: Arthropoda: Hexapoda: Insecta: Diptera: Agromyzidae
Other scientific names: Lemurimyza lycopersicae Pla & de la Cruz, Liriomyza canomarginis Frick, Liriomyza guytona Freeman, Liriomyza minutiseta Frick, Liriomyza munda Frick, Liriomyza propepusilla Frost, Liriomyza pullata Frick, Liriomyza subpusilla (Frost), Liriomyza verbenicola Hering
Common names in English: cabbage leaf miner, leaf miner of vegetables, serpentine vegetable leaf miner, tomato leaf miner, vegetable leaf miner
view more common names online...
Notes on taxonomy and nomenclature EPPO Categorization: A2 list
EU Categorization: A1 Quarantine pest (Annex II A)
view more categorizations online...
EPPO Code: LIRISA

Agromyzidae are usually restricted to a limited number of host plants but a few species are highly polyphagous and have become important pests. Liriomyza sativae is one of these species and causes severe damage to vegetable crops and ornamentals. The most commonly affected hosts are tomatoes, celery and chrysanthemum. L. sativae has been reported on 14 different plant families.

Host list: Abelmoschus esculentus, Amaranthus viridis, Anoda cristata, Apium graveolens, Benincasa hispida, Bidens alba, Brassica juncea, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, Brassica oleracea var. capitata, Brassica oleracea var. viridis, Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis, Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis, Brassica rapa, Cajanus cajan, Calendula officinalis, Capsicum annuum, Cestrum diurnum, Cestrum nocturnum, Chrysanthemum x morifolium, Cicer arietinum, Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita pepo, Dahlia hybrids, Datura innoxia, Galinsoga quadriradiata, Glebionis coronaria, Glycine max, Helianthus annuus, Hydrocotyle umbellata, Lablab purpureus, Lactuca sativa, Lathyrus, Luffa acutangula, Luffa aegyptiaca, Macroptilium atropurpureum, Medicago lupulina, Medicago sativa, Melilotus albus, Momordica charantia, Ocimum basilicum, Passiflora pallens, Passiflora pallida, Phaseolus lunatus, Phaseolus vulgaris, Pisum sativum, Poissonia hypoleuca, Raphanus sativus, Ricinus communis, Senna occidentalis, Senna tora, Sida acuta, Solanum americanum, Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum melongena, Solanum nigrum, Solanum torvum, Solanum tuberosum, Sorghum bicolor, Spinacia oleracea, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii, Trifolium incarnatum, Tropaeolum majus, Verbesina helianthoides, Verbesina virginica, Vicia faba, Vigna luteola, Vigna radiata, Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis, Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata, Vigna unguiculata

Liriomyza sativae originates from the Americas and has spread to Africa, Asia and Oceania. It is considered to be the most damaging agromyzid in the USA and South America. In the EPPO region, its presence has been recorded in a small number of countries.

EPPO Region: Armenia, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Russia, Türkiye, Uzbekistan
Africa: Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe
Asia: Bangladesh, China (Anhui, Beijing, Chongqing, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Neimenggu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin, Xinjiang, Xizhang, Yunnan, Zhejiang), East Timor, India (Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya), Indonesia (Java, Nusa Tenggara), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago), Jordan, Malaysia (West), Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
North America: Canada (Ontario), Mexico, United States of America (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming)
Central America and Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, St Kitts-Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (US)
South America: Argentina, Brazil (Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Parana, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: American Samoa, Australia (Queensland), Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu

The principal biological characteristics which make certain Liriomyza spp. particularly successful pests are their rapid population growth and their ability to attack a wide range of different host plants (Reitz et al., 2013).

Details about the life history of Liriomyza sativae are summarized from Araujo et al. (2013), Costa-Lima et al. (2010), Haghani et al. (2007), Parrella 1987, Das et al. (2022), Spencer (1973a), Tokomaru & Abe (2003, 2005), Tran & Tran (2023).

After mating female flies puncture the leaf surface of the host plants with their ovipositor causing wounds which serve as sites for feeding or oviposition. Males can also take advantage of these feeding sites as they are less well equipped for puncturing plant tissue. L. sativae females are highly fertile and lay on average 26 eggs per day. A female can lay over to 600 eggs in her lifetime. The number of eggs laid depends on the host plant. Eggs are inserted in the upper surface of leaves. The duration of the egg stage varies from 2 to 4.5 days depending on the temperature and host plant. Female flies live longer than males.

There are three larval instars which, in total, last 4 to 7 days. Larval feeding forms irregular linear mines. Just before pupation, mature larvae cut semi-circular exit slits in the upper surface of the leaves. After a short period, larvae drop to the ground and then burrow just below the surface of the soil or in crop debris before pupating. The pupal stage lasts from 7 to 10 days.

Symptoms

The most important damage caused by Liriomyza spp. is due to larval mining in the leaf tissue. Larval mining reduces the aesthetic value of ornamentals, decreases the photosynthetic capacity of leaves and can ultimately cause defoliation in severe cases (Spencer 1973a). Mines are irregular linear structures in the leaf tissue. They are off-white with trails of dark frass in their margins.

Liriomyza spp. adults cause two main types of damage to their host plants, feeding and oviposition punctures (Minkeberg & van Lenteren, 1986; Reitz et al., 2013). Adult feeding and oviposition punctures reduce the aesthetic value of ornamental plants and can lead to death of young plants by reducing photosynthetic capacity. Punctures can also be invaded by fungi and bacteria causing additional damage to host plants. Feeding punctures appear as uneven rounded white speckles on the leaf surface whereas oviposition punctures are smaller and more rounded. These symptoms are not used as a diagnostic character as there is no variation between Liriomyza spp.

Morphology

Detailed description of the morphology of immature and adult L. sativae is given in Spencer (1973a). The main diagnostic characters of the four regulated Liriomyza spp. (L. bryoniae, L. huidobrensis, L. sativae and L. trifolii) can be found in the IPPC diagnostic protocol for the genus Liriomyza (IPPC, 2017) and the EPPO Standard on diagnostics PM 7/53 (2) Liriomyza spp. (EPPO, 2022a). The following sections summarize this information.

Eggs

Oval and white, 0.25 mm long.

Larva

There are three larval stages that range from 0.5 mm in length for the first instar to 3.0 mm for the last one. Their shape is cylindrical and tapering towards the head. The posterior spiracles are tricorn-shaped with three pores located on projections. Newly emerged L. sativae larvae are translucent and turns yellow-orange in the later stages. Petitt (1990) describes characters that can be used to distinguish the larval instars of L. sativae.

Puparium

Oval cylinder in shape of about 2.0 mm, pale yellowish orange. The spiracles are still visible in the pupal stage.

Adult

Small 1-3 mm long mostly black flies, with a yellow frons and scutellum. The orbital setulae are reclinate, the costa extends to vein M₁₊₂ and the femora are bright yellow. Male genitalia are characteristic of the genus.

Detection and inspection methods

There are more than 400 species of Liriomyza (GBIF, 2023) and their morphological identification relies on the male genitalia. Adult females can only be used for genus level identification. Likewise, there are no keys available for species level identification of the immature stages. L. sativae males can thus be separated from the very similar L. bryoniae, L. huidobrensis L. trifolii and L. strigata by the structure of their distiphallus (terminal part of the intromittent organ) which has one distal bulbs with a slight constriction between its apical and basal parts. The basal section of the bulb is not strongly curve (EPPO, 2022a; IPPC, 2017).

The mines caused by larval feeding can also be useful for detection but this character should be used in combination with other characters as mine pattern is influenced by environmental factors (EPPO, 2022a). Other flies as well as some Lepidoptera are known to have leaf-mining larvae and can potentially be confused with Agromyzidae. Nonetheless, the characteristic feeding punctures of Liriomyza spp. allows diagnosticians to differentiate them from other leafminers.

In the absence of male adults for morphological identification, the following molecular tests can be used for L. sativae species identification: PCR RFLP targeting the COII gene (Kox et al. 2005), conventional multiplex PCR targeting the COI gene (Nakamura et al., 2013), an on-site LAMP test, multiplex real-time PCR (Sooda et al., 2017), and DNA barcoding based on the COI gene (EPPO, 2021). These molecular techniques are summarized in the EPPO and the IPPC diagnostic protocols for regulated Liriomyza species (IPPC, 2017; EPPO, 2022a). Recently, molecular identification based on next generation sequencing techniques are also being developed (Frey et al., 2022).

Adults are capable of limited flight and can be dispersed by wind currents (see Malipatil et al. 2016 for references), but are unlikely to spread over long distances. The high degree of polyphagy of L. sativae as well as the concealed lifestyle of its larvae make its dissemination through the movement of plant material the most likely mean of colonizing new countries (EFSA, 2020; Parrela, 1987; Reitz et al., 2013). L. sativae is regularly intercepted in trade, in particular on leafy vegetables (Europhyt, 2023).

Economic impact

Liriomyza spp. are highly polyphagous and invasive and cause severe damage to vegetable crops and ornamentals through adult feeding, oviposition and larval mining. L. sativae originates from the Americas and has spread to Africa, Asia and Oceania. It is considered to be the most damaging agromyzid in the USA and South America (CABI, 2021) and its introduction into mainland Europe would most likely cause serious agricultural losses (EFSA, 2020). The most commonly affected economically important plants are tomatoes, chrysanthemum and celery. 80% yield losses have been recorded in Florida and Argentina on celery and lucerne, respectively (Spencer 1973b). In the laboratory, L. sativae has been shown to cause 14-33% yield losses in cucumber (Alaei-Verki et al., 2020).

Control

The most common control strategy for Liriomyza spp. is the extensive use of chemical control methods. However, Liriomyza spp. are known to readily develop insecticide resistance (Reitz et al., 2013), unlike their local parasitoids, thus causing serious leafminer outbreaks. Some insecticides are effective against Liriomyza spp. (Schuster & Everett, 1983). These are translaminar and target the larvae inside the leafmines. Biological control methods are increasingly being used in horticultural industries and commercial vegetable production (Liu et al., 2009). There are more than 140 described species of Liriomyza parasitoids and these are the primary agents used in biological control strategies. In open fields, integrated pest management strategies promoting local parasitoid diversity are commonly used to control Liriomyza spp. In the more controlled greenhouse environments, commercially available parasitoids, such as species in the genus Diglyphus, are also reported to successfully regulate Liriomyza infestations. Predators and entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi are also known but there are a limited number of species and they are not considered as efficient control agents.

Phytosanitary risk

Liriomyza sativae is a highly polyphagous species, native to the Americas. In Europe, it is regularly intercepted on imported plant material (EFSA, 2020). Due to the similar climatic conditions in its native range it is believed to be capable of establishing in many parts of the EPPO region. The main dispersal mechanisms is through the trade related movement of plant material hosting the immature stages of L. sativae (EFSA, 2020). The latter are cryptic and can easily go undetected in plants for planting, soil, fruit and vegetables, cut flowers and branches with foliage.

It can be recommended that host plants for planting from countries where L. sativae is present are inspected over three months at regular intervals before export can take place, to verify the absence of the pest itself or any signs of its presence. General guidance on how to conduct inspections of places producing vegetable plants for planting under protected conditions can be found in the EPPO Standard PM 3/77 (EPPO, 2022b).

In the European Union, it is requested that herbaceous host plants for planting should either : (1) Come from a country free from L. sativae; (2) Originate from a place of production inspected monthly over a three-month period prior to export to verify the absence of the pest; or (3) Have been subject to an appropriate treatment, inspected, and found free from L. sativae. Consignments of specified hosts traded as cut flowers and leafy vegetables should also originate from a country free from L. sativae or should have been inspected and found free from the pest immediately before export (Commission implementing regulation (EU) 2021/2285).

Alaei Verki ST, Iranipour S & Karimzadeh R (2020) Vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) damage mediated yield loss of cucumber. North-Western Journal of Zoology 16(2), 134-140.

Araujo EL, Nogueira CHF, Menezes Netto AC & Bezerra CES (2013) Biological aspects of the leafminer Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) on melon (Cucumis melo L.). Ciência Rural 43, 579-582.

CABI (2021) Datasheet on Liriomyza sativae. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/cabicompendium’0960

Costa-Lima TC, Geremias LD & Parra JRP (2010) Reproductive activity and survivorship of Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) at different temperatures and relative humidity levels. Environmental Entomology 39(1), 195-201.

Das KR, Rahman MM, Hossain MS, Paul AK & Latif MA (2022) Biology of vegetable leaf miner (Liriomyza sativa Blanchard) on yard long bean. International Journal of Entomology Research 7(12), 107-111.

EFSA Panel on Plant Health: Bragard C, Dehnen‐Schmutz K, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jacques, M-A, Miret JAJ, Fejer Justesen A, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas-Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Reignault PL, Thulke H-H, Van der Werf W, Civera AV, Yuen J, Zappala L, Czwienczek E, Streissl F & MacLeod A (2020) Pest categorisation of Liriomyza sativae. EFSA Journal 18(3), e06037.

EPPO (2021) EPPO Standards. Diagnostics. PM 7/129 (2) DNA barcoding as an identification tool for a number of regulated pests: DNA barcoding Arthropods. EPPO Bulletin 51(1), 100–143.

EPPO (2022a) EPPO Standards. Diagnostics. PM 7/53 (2) Liriomyza spp. EPPO Bulletin 52(2), 326-345.

EPPO (2022b) EPPO Standards. Phytosanitary Procedures. PM 3/77 (2) Vegetable plants for planting under protected conditions - Inspection of places of production. EPPO Bulletin 52(3), 526-543.

Europhyt (2023) Interceptions of harmful organisms in imported plants and other objects. European Commission. https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/plant-health-and-biosecurity/europhyt/interceptions_en [last accessed 2023-10].

Frey JE, Frey B, Frei D, Blaser S, Gueuning M & Bühlmann A (2022) Next generation biosecurity: Towards genome based identification to prevent spread of agronomic pests and pathogens using nanopore sequencing. PloS one 17(7), e0270897. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270897

Haghani M, Fathipour Y, Asghar Talebi A & Baniameri V (2007) Thermal requirement and development of Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) on cucumber. Journal of Economic Entomology 100(2), 350-356.

IPPC (2017) DP 16: Genus Liriomyza. International Standard for Phytosanitary measures 27, annex 16. https://www.ippc.int/static/media/files/publication/en/2017/01/DP_16_2016_En_2017-01-30.pdf

Kox LFF, Van Den Beld HE, Lindhout BI & De Goffau LJW (2005) Identification of economically important Liriomyza species by PCR‐RFLP analysis. EPPO Bulletin 35(1), 79-85.

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Liu T-X, Kang Le, Heinz KM and Trumble J (2009) Biological control of Liriomyza leafminers: progress and perspective. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources 4, 004.

Malipatil M, Blacket M, Wainer J, Ridland P and Reviewer Jones DC (Subcommittee on Plant Health Diagnostics) (2016) National Diagnostic Protocol for Liriomyza trifolii – NDP27 V1. https://www.plantbiosecuritydiagnostics.net.au/app/uploads/2018/11/NDP-27-American-serpentine-leaf-miner-Liriomyza-trifolii-V1.pdf

Minkenberg OPJM & van Lenteren JC (1986) The leafminers Liriomyza bryoniae and L. trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae), their parasites and host plants: a review. Agricultural University Wageningen Papers No. 86-2, 50 pp.

Nakamura S, Masuda T, Mochizuki A, Konishi K, Tokumaru S, Ueno K & Yamaguchi T (2013) Primer design for identifying economically important Liriomyza species (Diptera: Agromyzidae) by multiplex PCR. Molecular Ecology Resources 13, 96–102.

Parrella MP (1987) Biology of Liriomyza. Annual Review of Entomology 32(1), 201-224.

Petitt FL (1990) Distinguishing larval instars of the vegetable leafminer Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Florida Entomologist 73, 280-286.

Reitz SR, Gao Y & Lei Z (2013) Insecticide use and the ecology of invasive Liriomyza leafminer management. Insecticides-development of safer and more effective technologies, 235-255.

Sakamaki Y, Miura K & Chi Y (2005) Interspecific hybridization between Liriomyza trifolii and Liriomyza sativae. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 98(4), 470-474.

Scheffer SJ & Lewis ML (2005) Mitochondrial phylogeography of vegetable pest Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae): divergent clades and invasive populations. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 98(2), 181-186.

Schuster DJ & Everett PH (1983) Response of Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera:Agromyzidae) to insecticides on tomato. Journal of Economic Entomology 76, 1170-1174.

Sooda A, Gunawardana D, Li D & Kumarasinghe L (2017) Multiplex real‐time PCR assay for the detection of three invasive leafminer species: Liriomyza huidobrensis, L. sativae and L. trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Austral Entomology 56(2), 153-159.

Spencer KA (1973a) Agromyzidae (Diptera) of economic importance. Series Entomologica 9, 418 pp. Junk, The Hague, Netherlands.

Spencer KA (1973b) The Agromyzidae of Venezuela. Revista Facultad Agronómica, Maracay 7(2), 5-107.

Tokumaru S & Abe Y (2003) Effects of temperature and photoperiod on development and reproductive potential of Liriomyza sativae, L. trifolii, and L. bryoniae (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 47(4), 143-152.

Tokumaru S & Abe Y (2005) Effects of host plants on the development and host preference of Liriomyza sativae, L. trifolii, and L. bryoniae (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 49(3), 135-142.

Tran THD & Tran DH (2023) Biology of the vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard)(Diptera: Agromyzidae) on kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and pak choi (Brassica rapa var. chinensis). Agricultural Science Digest-A Research Journal 43(3), 378-381.

This datasheet was extensively revised in 2024 by Sarah Chérasse, ANSES. Her valuable contribution is gratefully acknowledged.

EPPO (2024) Liriomyza sativae. EPPO datasheets on pests recommended for regulation. https://gd.eppo.int (accessed 2024-04-27)

This datasheet was first published in the first edition of 'Quarantine Pests for Europe' in 1992 and revised in its second edition in 1997, as well as in 2024. It is now maintained in an electronic format in the EPPO Global Database. The sections on 'Identity', ‘Hosts’, and 'Geographical distribution' are automatically updated from the database. For other sections, the date of last revision is indicated on the right.

CABI/EPPO (1992/1997) Quarantine Pests for Europe (1st and 2nd edition). CABI, Wallingford (GB).