Cordilura Fallén, 1810

The immature stages of American Cordilura develop in the culms of Carex, Scirpus and Juncus as far as is known according to Wallace & Neff (1971)[1] who only include one species which occurs in Britain (C. pudica) in their account of species from the eastern USA. They found that females prefer to oviposit on new, small tender shoots. Nelson (1998)[2] reports finding larvae and pupae of  C. picticornis in the stems of Carex aquatilis growing beside the River Spey. Otherwise, the larvae of British species are unknown although adults are generally found in situations that suggest similar larval habits.

The male genitalia provide useful characters in confirming the identity of species and most British species are illustrated by Hackman (1956)[3].

References