Leafmines: Stigmella atricapitella

02 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British leafminers, British moths, leaf-mining moth larvae, leafmines on Oak, Stigmella roborella

This is the third of the three new leafminers in ‘green islands’ on fallen Oak leaves that I found during one 30-minute period checking leaves in a local park. These are the work of the moth Stigmella atricapitella, the larvae of which you can see inside the mines shown below.

241202 Stigmella atricapitella

This moth breeds twice each year, so the mines can be seen in June – July and again between September and November, though the mines differ slightly each time (see the information on the British Leafminers website). It is possible to confuse these leafmines with those of Stigmella roborella but, fortunately, S. atricapitella has ‘dark prothoracic sclerites’, the dark marks you can see just below the head of the larvae in my images.

Leafmines: Ectoedemia subbimaculella

25 Monday Nov 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British leafminers, British moth larvae, Ectoedemia subbimaculella, leaf-mining moth larvae, leafmines on Oak, Oak leafminers

This is the second of the three new leafminers I recently found in ‘green islands’ on fallen Oak leaves during half an hour’s fossicking in one of my local parks. And this one, both the adult you can see on the UK Moths website and the mine of its larva, is very similar to the first of the three I blogged about (Leafmines: Ectoedemia heringi, 18 November).

241125 Ectoedemia subbimaculella (1)

Active during October and November, today’s leafmines were created by the larvae of the moth Ectoedemia subbimaculella, and the difference between the mines of the two species is the slit in the lower part of the mine, on the under side of the leaf, of this one. If you want further information and to see additional, better photos, check out the entry on the British Leafminers website.

241125 Ectoedemia subbimaculella (2)

Leafmines: Orchestes signifer

13 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British weevils, leafmines on Oak, Orchestes signifer, weevil, weevil leafmines

From my previous posts, including the recent A weirdness of weevils, I’m sure it’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of weevils, but I’d never given a thought to their life cycle until I found these leafmines. The mines are the work of the larvae of the weevil Orchestes signifer. The gallery mines follow the edges of Oak leaves before terminating in a small blotch. At that point, the larvae make themselves a case by cutting out the circular blotch, and, snugly encased, they drop to the ground to pupate. You can find a photo of the black-and-white adult weevil on the British Leafminers website.

220613 Orchestes signifer

Leafmines: Acrocercops brongniardella

20 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, 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)