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Just look at all these leafmines on Enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea lutetiana); you can hardly see the leaves for the mines.

230626 mompha terminella (1)

Back in July 2021, I blogged about these mines, made by the larvae of the tiny moth Mompha langiella, in Leafmines: Enchanter’s nightshade but, when I was looking at these nightshade plants on Wednesday, I noticed one that looked different – the mine started as a spiralling gallery before widening out into a blotch. This was later confirmed as the larval mine of Mompha terminella, another tiny moth whose adult form can be seen on the UK Moths website. The mines are usually seen between August and September but, as with many things this year, this larva was active much earlier than usual.

230626 mompha terminella (3)