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Category Archives: leaves

Ash key fungi

12 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in fungi, leaves, trees, winter

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Ash tree, British fungi, Diaporthe samaricola, fungi on Ash keys, Neosetophoma samarorum

These two fungi, found on Ash keys, were last week’s record of the week at my local biodiversity records centre, SEWBReC – not my record, that of another local recorder – but seeing this on Twitter last Friday reminded me to check the next Ash trees I saw. That opportunity came on Sunday’s walk and I found the fungi on just the second tree I passed by.

210112 ash key fungi (1)

The two fungi are Diaporthe samaricola (the small black dots on the seed part of the key, on the left below) and Neosetophoma samarorum (the much smaller, black speckles on the wing part of the key, on the right in my photo). Both fungi are under-recorded in my area, so I’ll now be checking all the Ash keys I find.

210112 ash key fungi (2)

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Incredible Ivy

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, leaves, plants, winter

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Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers

I’m not sure I can subscribe to the ancient concept that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around my head would stop me getting drunk but the leaves are certainly amazing and incredibly diverse in shape, form and colour. Juvenile leaves have between 3 and 5 lobes, while mature leaves have no lobes and can be shaped both like ovals and hearts.

210110 ivy leaf (1)
210110 ivy leaf (2)
210110 ivy leaf (3)
210110 ivy leaf (4)
210110 ivy leaf (5)
210110 ivy leaf (6)

And then there are the flowers, in bloom from September through to November and a source of food for more than 50 insect species, and the subsequent berries, ripe from November to January – or, until the berry-loving winter thrushes, finches, woodpigeons and other hungry birds gobble them all up. What an incredible plant ivy is!

210110 ivy flowers and berries (1)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (2)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (3)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (4)

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349/366 Leaf mines: Amauromyza verbasci

14 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, plants, winter

≈ 2 Comments

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Amauromyza verbasci, Buddleja davidii, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafminer

It’s #LeafmineMonday again on social media so here’s another leaf mine to look for when you’re out walking. And this is an easy plant to recognise because I’m sure everyone knows what the Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) looks like, right?

201214 Amauromyza verbasci (1)

These mines on Buddleja leaves, which start as a narrow corridor and quickly develop into a large blotch, are caused by the larvae of a tiny fly, Amauromyza verbasci. The fly also lays its eggs on several other plants, including Mullein and Common figwort.

201214 Amauromyza verbasci (3)

Mines can be seen from June to November, so it’s almost too late to see these now. The Buddleja plants in my area are already generating new growth but, as you can see from the photo above, the mines may still be seen on the older leaves before they drop.

201214 Amauromyza verbasci (2)

According to the UK Fly mines website, Amauromyza verbasci is widespread in Britain, though I have to say that I have only seen these mines once, despite a lot of looking at Buddleja bushes. And this sighting was a particularly lucky one for me, as this turned out to be the 1000th species (of flora and fauna) I had recorded on my local biodiversity records centre database.

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345/366 Italian Alder aphid

10 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, nature, trees

≈ 3 Comments

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aphids, Crypturaphis grassii, Italian Alder, Italian Alder aphid

At first I thought this incredibly tiny creature was the early instar of a shield bug but, when I couldn’t find any pictures that resembled it on the British Bugs website, I turned to Twitter for help. Luckily, a botanist I know, Karen, had seen something similar posted recently in a Facebook group and very quickly supplied me with a name, Crypturaphis grassii, the Italian Alder aphid, so named because it’s only ever found on Italian Alder trees (Alnus cordata).

201210 Crypturaphis grassii (1)

I found online a report published in 2011, on the first records of this species in Cornwall, which provides some interesting detail about these aphids. Apparently, Crypturaphis grassii is ‘native to southern Italy and Corsica and [was] first recorded in the UK in 1998’. Intrigued, I returned to the tree I’d found my first specimen on and found many more of these creatures, with variations in colour and markings. The report explains that:

Viviparous individuals [those able to birth live young] are yellowish-green to yellowish-brown, with brown spots extending along the dorsal surface, around the edge of the abdomen and on the head. Compound eyes are reddish in colour. … Immature apterae [wingless individuals] are similar but smaller, paler and lacking in dark spots, more translucent and slightly more elongate in shape. Oviparous apterae [wingless individuals that are able to lay eggs] are similar in size and shape to viviparous apterae but are brown in colour, with transverse darker abdominal stripes, rather than spots.

201210 Crypturaphis grassii (3)

201210 Crypturaphis grassii (4)
201210 Crypturaphis grassii (5)

The Italian Alder, on which the aphid feeds, was ‘commonly planted as a roadside, waterside and/or windbreak species’ during the 1980s, and, by 2011 when the report was published, the aphids had already spread widely throughout Britain, including having established colonies in the Vale of Glamorgan, which is where I found the aphids in my photographs.

201210 Crypturaphis grassii (2)

Citation: Luker, Sally. (2011). CRYPTURAPHIS GRASSII (STERNORRYNCHA: APHIDIDAE): FIRST RECORDS FOR CORNWALL. British Journal of Entomology and Natural History. 24. 205.

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342/366 Leaf mines: Cerodontha iridis

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, plants, winter

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Cerodontha iridis, Iris foetidissima, Iris leaf miner, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafminer, Stinking iris

When I first recorded this leaf mine (found on 24 November at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, where there is rather a lot of it in one particular area), it was named ‘Record of the Week’ by SEWBReC, the local biodiversity records centre, and hailed as only the third Welsh record (though the national recorder for this species later corrected this, as it seems several records from north Wales had not been added to the Welsh database at that stage). Since then, I’ve found these mines in five more locations, proving that once again this is an under-recorded leaf-mining species.

201207 Cerodontha iridis (1)

These leaf mines were made on Stinking iris (Iris foetidissima) by the fly Cerodontha iridis, and they can also be found in Britain on other Iris species, though I haven’t seen any of those. The mines occur in early autumn, though they can still be seen on Iris leaves later than that – I’m seeing them now, in early winter. Often the adult fly lays several eggs on one leaf and, after the larvae hatch and start munching, they create blotch mines, which may be quite large when several mines coalesce.

201207 Cerodontha iridis (2)
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You can read more detailed information about this species and see some excellent images, including close-ups of the larvae and their puparia, on the Bladmineerders website here.

201207 Cerodontha iridis (4)

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338/366 Leaf mines: Acidia cognata

03 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, plants, wildflowers

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Acidia cognata, British flies, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leaf-mining larvae, leafminer, Petasites fragrans, Winter heliotrope

Though the UK Fly mines website says the leaf mines of the little orange fly Acidia cognata are made in October-November, I’m sure the mines will still be visible this month, and possibly further into the winter, so this is one to look out for now when you’re out walking.

201203 acidia cognata (1)

One of the plants this fly mines – this is the one I’ve found these mines on – is Winter heliotrope (Petasites fragrans), which is particularly noticeable now, due to the pretty pink flowers that appear from November to February. Other favoured larval plants are Butterbur (Petasites hybridus), a plant very similar to Winter heliotrope, and Colt’s-foot (Tussilago farfara), the leaves of which don’t appear till after the flowers, so approximately from April onwards.

201203 acidia cognata (6)
201203 acidia cognata (7)

After hatching, the Acidia cognata larvae create a corridor on the upper surface of the leaf. As the larvae grow, the mine widens and eventually becomes more of a blotch, especially if there are several larvae on a single leaf and their mines meet. I’ve found these mines in two local patches of Winter heliotrope but not found any sign of them in other locations, so distribution does seem a little random. If you spot any, please do record your sightings as, like many leaf-miners where the adult flies are not often seen, this species is probably under-recorded.

201203 acidia cognata (2)
201203 acidia cognata (3)
201203 acidia cognata (4)
201203 acidia cognata (5)

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335/366 In praise of Beech

30 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, leaves, nature, trees

≈ 2 Comments

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autumn colour, autumn leaves, beech, British trees

In his ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, Keats wrote of a ‘light-winged Dryad of the trees’ singing of summer in ‘some melodious plot of beechen green’. The beechen green has now become beechen gold and brown, but I can still imagine Dryads singing of the beauty of mighty Beech trees, in all their autumnal finery, and even performing paeans in praise of their statuesque forms once those golden leaves have fallen.

201130 beech (1)
201130 beech (2)

201130 beech (3)

201130 beech (4)
201130 beech (5)

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326/366 Leaf mines: on Beech

21 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, leaves, trees

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beech, leaf mines on Beech, moth larvae in leaf mines, moth leafmines, Parornix fagivora, Phyllonorycter maestingella, Phyllonorycter messaniella, Stigmella hemargyrella, Stigmella tityrella

Five species of Lepidoptera larvae can be found in the leaves of Beech (Fagus species) and, with a lot of searching, much head-scratching, some rejections, and the much appreciated assistance of our county moth recorder Dave, I’ve now found and positively identified all five in my local area.

201121 beech (1)
201121 beech (2)

Stigmella tityrella: This moth’s larval leaf mines featured in last week’s post about green islands. The gallery (like a corridor) mine is usually compact and angular and, in particular, the larva stays between the veins when creating its mine – that is the feature I find helps most with its identification. As you can see from the two mines below, the galleries are very narrow to begin with, then broaden as the larvae grow.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Stigmella hemargyrella: These larvae also create a gallery mine, but the mine is most often wider and longer than that of S. tityrella, and the larvae have no issue with crossing over the leaf veins.

201121 Stigmella hemargyrella (1)
201121 Stigmella hemargyrella (2)

Parornix fagivora: This is the mine I’ve found least in my local area, though I’m not sure if that’s a reflection on the moth’s rarity or my finding skills. Look for a blister, where the larva lives at first, and then a folded leaf edge, which it inhabits a bit like a cave.

201121 Parornix fagivora (1)
201121 Parornix fagivora (2)

Phyllonorycter messaniella: Both Phyllonorycter species on Beech create blisters; this one is usually an oval shape, almost rectangular, and quite broad. I’ve found the upper side of the leaf can be almost featureless but the blister on the underside is quite obvious so, if recording these, it’s best to include a photo of both sides of the leaf.

201121 Phyllonorycter messaniella (1)
201121 Phyllonorycter messaniella (2)
201121 Phyllonorycter messaniella (4)
201121 Phyllonorycter messaniella (3)

Phyllonorycter maestingella: This blister mine is long and quite narrow, and often placed between leaf veins. By spinning silk, the larva draws the leaf together to create a cosy tunnel, which looks a bit like a crease on the upper side of the leaf.

201121 Phyllonorycter maestingella (1)

201121 Phyllonorycter maestingella (2)
201121 Phyllonorycter maestingella (3)

I’ve attached to each of the moths’ names a link to the species description on the British Leafminers website, which is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more.

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324/366 Simply red

19 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, leaves, nature, plants

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autumn colour, colour red, red fruit, red fungi, red leaves, red stems

Stop! Danger! With green, Christmas. Anger (seeing red). Passion (red hot). And, in Nature, red leaves, red breasts (though I’ve always thought of the Robin as more of an orange breast), red fungi, red fruit, red feathers, red eyes…. Here’s a selection of reds from my recent meanders.

201119 red (1)
201119 red (2)
201119 red (3)
201119 red (4)
201119 red (5)
201119 red (6)
201119 red (7)
201119 red (8)
201119 red (9)
201119 red (10)
201119 red (11)
201119 red (12)

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322/366 Leaf mines: Phytomyza agromyzidae

17 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, leaves, plants

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Cornus sanguinea, Dogwood, fly leaf mines, leaf mines, leaf mines on Dogwood, leaf-mining fly larvae, leaf-mining larvae, leafminers, Phytomyza agromyzidae

So far, in my recent posts on leaf mines, I’ve only covered a few of the many micro moths whose larvae make mines in leaves. But many fly species also inhabit leaves in their larval stage, and today’s post is about one of those, Phytomyza agromyzidae.

201117 Phytomyza agromyzina (1)

You will probably never see the tiny adult fly (and, in fact, I haven’t even been able to find an illustration of one online, though this Wiki page shows an example of one member of the Agromyzidae fly family, which will give you a general idea.) but, anytime between July and November, you should be able to find its larvae’s leaf mines, as it’s probably widespread in Britain (though under-recorded, so if you do find some, please record your sighting).

201117 Phytomyza agromyzina (2)
201117 Phytomyza agromyzina (3)

The mines I’ve found have all been on the leaves of Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), though it is known to mine other species of Cornus. They’re gallery mines (i.e. forming corridors), long and meandering through the upper side of the leaf surface, and almost completely filled with frass (i.e. poo).

201117 Phytomyza agromyzina (4)

The UK Fly Mines website provides more detailed information on this, and the many other types of leaf mines you can find in Britain.

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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