Contribution to the diversity of leaf miners of silver birch, Betula pendula Roth in North-Eastern Kazakhstan

Abstract

To date, Kazakhstan is an underexplored territory regarding the study of leaf miners. This article aims to present new data on the defoliators of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) in cultivated plants of North-Eastern Kazakhstan (the Pavlodar Region). Occurrence of Fenusa pumila Leach, 1817, as well as additional new data on the previously known leafminer species are presented for the first time for the Pavlodar Region. Groups of birch-defoliating insects were chosen as model objects. The research conducted in the territory of the Pavlodar Region revealed six species of leaf miners belonging to three genera Stigmella Schrank, 1802, Phylloporia Heinemann, 1870, and Fenusa Leach, 1817. All representatives are obligate miners that develop at the larval stage in the mesophyll of birch leaves. This group of insects harmfully affects plants, often causing their death, which in turn proves the importance of studying them.

Keywords

• central asia
• conservation
• defoliators
• forest
• invasive species