Leafmines: Acrocercops brongniardella

20 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in leaves, insects, trees

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Acrocercops brongniardella, British leafminers, Holm oak, leaf-mining moth, leafmines, leafmines on Oak

Another Monday, another leaf-mining moth. This one goes by the tongue-twisting name of Acrocercops brongniardella and can be found on the leaves of Oak trees, mostly in southern parts of England, Wales and Ireland. The adult moth is a very smart-looking creature (see the photos on the UK Moths website).

210920 acrocercops brongniardella (1)

Fortunately, the larval leafmines are fairly easy to identify as they begin with a distinctive twist before broadening to a large blotch or blister.

210920 acrocercops brongniardella (2)

I found my very first Acrocercops brongniardella mines in a small area of woodland on 6 September and have since found more on a tree in a local park, both times on the evergreen Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and the latter rather abundant on leaves at the tips of lower branches. The mines can supposedly be found on all oak species, though I’ve failed to find them in the other local woodlands where I’ve recently been walking and there are not a lot of records for this species of Wales. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more.

210920 acrocercops brongniardella (3)

Leafmines: Phyllonorycter coryli

13 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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leaf-mining moth, leafmines, leafmines on Hazel, moth larvae in leaf mines, moth leafmines, Phyllonorycter coryli

For those of you who are new to leafmines, here’s one that’s appearing on leaves right about now, is common in Britain and easy to identify.

210913 phyllonorycter coryli (1)

These blisters on Hazel leaves are made by the larvae of the perfectly named Nut leaf blister moth (Phyllonorycter coryli) – you can see what the adult moth looks like on the UK Moths website. In fact, if you’re sharp-eyed, you may have noticed these blisters in July, as this little moth has two broods each year. You can get more details and see more images on the excellent British Leafminers website.

331/366 Leaf mines: Phyllonorycter leucographella

26 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, plants

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British moths, Firethorn leaf miner, leaf mines, leaf mines on Pyracantha, leaf-mining larvae, leaf-mining moth, leafminer, moth larvae, moth larvae in leaf mines, Phyllonorycter leucographella

I stumbled across these leaf mines by accident but I simply can’t resist including them … because the tiny striped larvae are so darn cute!

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (1)

These are the larvae of the moth Phyllonorycter leucographella, the adult of which is also rather striking – you can see photos of it on the UK Moths website here. As the website reports, this moth is a recent arrival to Britain, first spotted in Essex just 40 years ago, but for such a small creature – its wingspan is only 7-9mm – it’s managed to fly and settle far and wide, from Yorkshire in the north of England to Pembrokeshire in the west of Wales, and all points in between. This may partly be due to the fact that its larvae feed on many garden plants: I found an abundance of leaf mines on an orange-berried variety of Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), which explains why the moth’s common name is Firethorn leaf miner.

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (2)

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (3)

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (4)

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (5)

As you can see from my pictures, the larval ‘mine’ is like a blister, centred over the midrib on the upper side of the leaf. The larva, which, with black blobs on a white body, is very distinctive, can often be seen through the membrane of the mine, especially when it’s feeding at the edge of the blister. You can read more about this leaf miner, its life cycle and preferred larval plants on the UK Fly Mines website here.

201126 pyracantha

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!