Leafmines: Scrobipalpa acuminatella

15 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, plants

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British leaf mines, leaf-mining larvae, leaf-mining moth larvae, moth larvae, moth larvae in leaf mines, moth larvae on thistles, Scrobipalpa acuminatella

This week’s mines can be found on thistles, on species of both Cirsium and Carduus – in my case, the plant is Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense).

211115 Scrobipalpa acuminatella (1)

These mines have been made by the larvae of the moth Scrobipalpa acuminatella, the adult of which can be seen on the UK Moths website. As the website points out, these moths have two generations each year, so we get two chances to see the mines.

211115 Scrobipalpa acuminatella (2)

These moth larvae make their home in the midribs of thistle leaves, venturing out to eat during the night and making blotches as they do, then returning to the midrib to shelter during the daytime.

211115 Scrobipalpa acuminatella (3)

Leafmines: Stigmella plagicolella

04 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves

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British leaf mines, leaf-mining larvae, leaf-mining moth, leaf-mining moth larvae, leafminers, leafmines on Blackthorn, Stigmella plagicolella

Rob Edmunds, one of the people behind the British Leafminers website, labelled these leafmines ‘tadpoles’ and, as you can see, it’s a very apt description. They are also tiny, as these mines appear on Blackthorn or Sloe (Prunus spinosa), the leaves of which are only 2 – 4cms long.

211004 Stigmella plagicolella (1)

The adults of the moth Stigmella plagicolella, also known as the Scrubland Pigmy, are active twice each year, firstly in May and June, and then again in August, so their larval mines can be seen soon after those periods, in July and then again during September and October. So, this is a mine to look out for when all you gin drinkers out there are collecting the fruit to make Sloe gin.

Leafmines: Profenusa pygmaea

30 Monday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British leaf mines, British sawflies, leaf mines on Oak, leafminers, Oak leafmines, Profenusa pygmaea, sawfly leafmines

Believe it or not, #LeafmineMonday is a thing on Twitter, and last Monday I read with interest this tweet, with photos, posted by Rob Edmunds (@leafminerman, one of the people behind the excellent British Leafmines website):

a sawfly mine which is fairly easy to find, made by Profenusa pygmaea. Look for brown blotches on Oak leaves but with a wriggling start as shown in the photo … Initial mines are whitish but then fade to brown.

210830 profenusa pygmaea leafmine (1)

Profenusa pygmaea is a species of sawfly – you can read more about it and see photos of the adult on the Sawflies of Britain and Ireland website. As I’m often to be found checking out Oak leaves and there were no records for this particular sawfly in my local area, of course I had to go looking, and I’ve now found these leafmines in two separate locations. I’m guessing it’s yet another under-recorded species so if you spot it in your area, do please record it.

Leafmines: on Teasel, 2

27 Tuesday Jul 2021

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British leaf mines, Chromatomyia ramosa, leaf mines, leaf mines on Teasel, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafminers

Another day, another leafmine on Teasel. This is not what I’d planned to blog about today but, by sheer coincidence, I discovered this new-to-me leafmine during yesterday’s walk so thought I’d share. And, in fact, once I had the national expert check my identification, he also confirmed that this is the first record of these mines in south Wales.

210727 Chromatomyia ramosa (1)

The larvae of the tiny fly Chromatomyia ramosa are responsible for these mines, feeding both on Teasel and on the various Scabious plant species. As you can see in my photos, the larvae feed along the midrib of the leaf and also in short galleries leading off from the midrib. Though under-recorded, this fly is thought to be widespread in Britain, so I’ll certainly be on the look out for more of its leafmines.

Leafmines: on Teasel

26 Monday Jul 2021

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Agromyza dipsaci, British leaf mines, fly mines on Teasel, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafminers, Teasel

I wasn’t aware of any leafmines on Teasel until I saw a post on Twitter on 23 June by @leafminerman Rob Edmunds. Since then, I’ve been checking the newly sprouted leaves of Teasel whenever I see them. And, finally, on Friday I spotted some mines on a small group of Teasel plants at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

These are the mines of the fly Agromyza dipsaci, another tiny creature I’ll probably never see but I know it’s around from seeing its larval home. The mines appear in early summer once the Teasel leaves start growing, the blotch usually starting at the edge of the leaf and broadening as the larva consumes more and grows. Its large grains of frass can often be seen inside the mine, as shown in the photo on the right above.

210726 Agromyza dipsaci (3)

The British leafminers website reports that this is an uncommon miner in the UK so I thought I’d check the records. Sure enough, there are only four Welsh records showing in Aderyn, the country’s biodiversity database – five when my record is included, and only seventeen records (including the four Welsh ones) on the NBN Atlas, the British database. It may be, though, that like many invertebrate species, this little fly is under-recorded. So, if you spot these mines on Teasel near you, please make sure to record your sightings.

210726 Agromyza dipsaci (4)

Leafmines: Enchanter’s nightshade

03 Saturday Jul 2021

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British leaf mines, British moths, Enchanter's nightshade, Larval mines of Mompha langiella, leafmines on Enchanter's nightshade, Mompha langiella, moth leafmines

I’ve been lingering over leafmines again and have a new one to show you, this time on the lovely little plant that carpets the woodland floor at this time of year, Enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea lutetiana).

210703 Mompha langiella on Enchanters nightshade (1)

210703 Mompha langiella on Enchanters nightshade (2)

The mines, which start off as galleries but are often subsumed into the later blotches, are made during June and July by the larvae of Mompha langiella, a rather nondescript little brown moth. The larvae, as described on the British leafminers website, are ‘light yellow, with darker thoracic legs’ (see photo left below), and, most fortunately, I also found a pupa (below right), which are located ‘occasionally in a mined leaf or in a cocoon between the leaves or on the leaves’.

210703 Mompha langiella on Enchanters nightshade (3)

210703 Mompha langiella on Enchanters nightshade (4)

Though Enchanter’s nightshade is widespread in the places where I walk, I’ve only found one site with these leafmines so far. Can you spot them in your local woodland?

Leaf mines: Phytomyza ilicis

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

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British leaf mines, Holly, Holly leaf-miner, Ilex aquifolium, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, Phytomyza ilicis

The tale of the Holly leaf miner (Phytomyza ilicis) is a tangled one. Way back in December 2016, I blogged about the leaf-mining life of this tiny fly’s larvae. Then, early in 2020, doubt was cast on the true identity of this leaf miner, when two scientists published a paper, stating that, through genital examination of one particular Phytomyza ilicis specimen, they had determined there were in fact two very similar species to be found in Britain. Of course, this called into question the true identification of all prior records, and no subsequent records could be confirmed without genital examination of specimens.

At that stage, I stopped recording leaf mines on Holly. But now I can start again because the work of those earlier scientists has recently been disproved. The organiser of the Agromyzidae Recording Scheme (the family to which Phytomyza ilicis belongs) re-examined the questionable specimen and found the genitals had actually been damaged, which had led to them being wrongly identified.

So, until that ‘other’ Holly leaf miner (Phytomyza jucunda) makes its way from Europe to Britain and so long as the mines look similar to the various ones I’ve included here, it is safe to record the Holly leaf mines we see as Phytomyza ilicis.

You can access the splendid new website of the Agromyzidae Recording Scheme here, and read more about the story of the Holly leaf miner in a recent newsletter here.

Wild word: pupa

20 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

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British leaf mines, Cerodontha iridis, leaf-mining fly pupae, leafminer, pupa, pupae of Cerodontha iridis

Pupa: Noun (pl. pupae); An insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult, e.g. a chrysalis; Origin: late 18th century modern Latin, from Latin pupa ‘girl, doll’ (Oxford Dictionary).

210120 pupa cerodontha iridis (2)

I don’t find pupae very often so I was very pleased to find these – all the black oblong shapes, not just the one outside the leaf – the pupae of the leaf-mining fly Cerodontha iridis. More about that creature in my blog post of 7 December.

210120 pupa cerodontha iridis (1)

356/366 Leaf mines: Euleia heraclei

21 Monday Dec 2020

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Alexanders, Alexanders plants, British leaf mines, Celery fly, Celery leaf fly, Euleia heraclei, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafminers

Finally, a leaf mine where I’ve actually seen the adult – in this case, a fly rather than a moth – and not the specific adult that laid the eggs that hatched into the larvae that made these particular leaf mines, but rather adult flies seen on other occasions. And very pretty little flies they are too!

201221 Euleia heraclei (1)

These are Euleia heraclei, also known as Celery flies or Celery leaf flies because one of the plants their larvae feed on is Celery. Other plants include Parsley, Hogweed, Angelica, Lovage, Wild parsnip and, the plant I found these leaf mines on, Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum). In the photos below, the fly on the left is the male, the one on the right the female.

According to the Nature Spot website, the adult flies are usually seen between April and November, and the British Leafminers website says that the larval mines can be seen throughout summer and into early autumn, though one of my photos below was taken as recently as 27 November and the larva is clearly visible so perhaps they have a longer season when the weather conditions are mild.

327/365 Stigmella leaf mines

23 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, leaves, nature

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bramble leaf mines, British leaf mines, British moths, Golden pigmy moth, leaf mines on brambles, leaf-mining moth, Stigmella aurella, stigmella species

Before the heavy rain came in yesterday I managed a quick local walk, part of which was to look at maple trees for the leaf mines of a tiny moth called Stigmella aceris, which has slowly been expanding its range in south Wales. I didn’t find any on the few trees I looked at, though I will continue to look and will report back here if I do manage to find any.

I decided to switch my focus on to another of the Stigmella moth species, Stigmella aurella, the Golden pigmy moth, which lives its larval life in mines burrowed in bramble leaves. Though you might never see the adult moth, you will undoubtedly be able to find its leaf mines as they are common and widespread throughout most of Britain, and I easily found several examples during my local meander. Now to find the maple-leaf-burrowing variety!