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Tag Archives: leafmines

Leafmines: Phyllonorycter ulicicolella

13 Monday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

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British leafminers, leafmines, leafmines on Gorse, leafmining moth larvae, moth larva, Phyllonorycter ulicicolella

I have a new leafminer to share at last, the moth Phyllonorycter ulicicolella, which mines the stems and spines of Gorse plants. The British Leafminers website notes that this mine is rarely found, and I can certainly believe that. I’d had a look before at a few Gorse bushes but not found any mines, until a posting on Twitter by local Butterfly Conservation senior moth ecologist George led me to make a more serious effort. For me, finding new leafmines is often a matter of getting my eye in – once I’ve seen something, I find it much easier to find again. George directed me to a local Gorse bush where he’d recently found some mines – I didn’t actually check that bush but knew there were other bushes that had recently been flailed further along the same road, and bingo! The mine and larva pictured here came from a cut branch lying on the ground.

230213 phyllonorycter ulicicolella (1)

The larva is incredibly tiny – about 3mm when fully grown – so it was difficult to get clear photos. According to the UK Moths website, where you can see images of the attractive adult, this moth is ‘nationally scarce’, and can be ‘found in heathland and grassland in southern England and also northwest England’. I guess they need to update that now to include south Wales, thanks to George’s efforts in finding it locally, in various parts of Cardiff and the nearby town of Barry. I will also be continuing my search for the mines in my area.

230213 phyllonorycter ulicicolella (2)

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Leafmines: Agromyza anthracina

30 Monday May 2022

Posted by sconzani in nature

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Agromyza anthracina, fly larvae, fly leafmines, leafmines, leafmines on Nettles

We’ve had a break from leafmines for a while but now the leaves are once again green and lush, it’s time to check them for signs of the mines of munching moth and fly and beetle larvae.

220530 Agromyza anthracina (2)

Today’s example is a new one for me: Agromyza anthracina, a fly whose larvae thrive on Nettles. It’s common in England and, though there aren’t many Welsh records, it seems that’s because it’s under-recorded rather than rare. Since a Twitter friend found mines on Nettles in a local park last week, I’ve found mines in several locations on my walks.

220530 Agromyza anthracina (1)

I’ve lightened these images a lot to try to show more clearly the details of the mines: some are quite intestinal in design and the frass in the galleries is like a child’s scribble pattern.

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S is for Stigmella aceris

24 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

leaf-mining moth larvae, leaf-mining moths, leafmines, leafmines on Field maple, leafmines on Norway maple, Stigmella aceris

As the leafmine season draws to a close (though I do still have a couple of finds to share early in 2022), I thought I’d post an update on our progress of monitoring the spread of the moth Stigmella aceris in the wider Cardiff area, a moth that was first recorded in Wales in 2019.

211224 stigmella aceris on field maple

The map on the left below shows 1km squares where the moth’s larval leafmines were present as at 11 November 2020; the map on the right as at 29 November 2021. The red-coloured squares represent new finds during that year; the mustard-coloured squares are finds from previous years, i.e. in the left map, the mustard squares were finds made in 2019; in the map on the right, the mustard squares show the finds at the end of 2020. I am just one of several enthusiastic local members of Team leafmine who have been helping with this surveying, walking many miles to check each 1km square and, as the maps show, we have been able to confirm that Stigmella aceris has spread quite extensively in 2021.

211224 stigmella aceris maps

The moth’s presence, of course, does depend on the presence of its larval food plants, the trees Field maple and Norway maple, so blank squares can indicate an absence of trees, rather than a failure to find any mines. Where the moth has been present for more than a year, it can be prolific, with several mines on each leaf of Field or Norway maple, whereas in newly colonised places, I’ve often found just one or two mines from a whole tree load of fallen leaves. It will be fascinating to check this tiny moth’s progress again in 2022.

211224 stigmella aceris on norway maple

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Leafmines: on Himalayan balsam

27 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects

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British leafmines, leaf-mining fly, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafmine on Himalayan balsam, leafmine on Indian balsam, leafminer, leafmines, Phytoliriomyza melampyga

Here’s a leafmine I hope you don’t find but you probably will, and easily. So, why do I hope you don’t? Because this mine is found on plants of the Impatiens species, including the highly invasive plant Himalayan balsam (or Indian balsam, as it’s officially known; i.e. Impatiens grandulifera).

210927 himalayan balsam

The leafminer is the larva of Phytoliriomyza melampyga, which creates an initial narrow twisting gallery that then widens into a variable whitish blotch. The larva’s frass can easily be seen within the mine. The adult fly is actually rather cute, with mostly yellow, a bit of black colouring. (You can see a short video of it on Wikipedia.)

210927 Phytoliriomyza melampyga

The NBN Atlas is currently showing just 192 records for this species in Britain, though, like most flies, it’s probably under-recorded.

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Leafmines: Acrocercops brongniardella

20 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

≈ 2 Comments

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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)

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Leafmines: Phyllonorycter coryli

13 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

≈ 4 Comments

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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.

210913 phyllonorycter coryli (2)
210913 phyllonorycter coryli (3)

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Leaf mine in Hart’s tongue

16 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

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Agromyzidae, Chromatomyia scolopendri, Hart's tongue, leaf mine on Hart's tongue, leafminers, leafmines

After my recent introductory post on leafminers, I thought I’d get the ball rolling with an example of a leaf mine I have actually been able to identify, as, fortunately for me, it is the only creature that creates a linear mine on the leaves of Hart’s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium). The mines in my photographs were created by the larvae of a tiny fly, Chromatomyia scolopendri.

180116 Chromatomyia scolopendri (1)

As you can see, the larvae tends to mine along the midrib of the leaf but occasionally veers out towards the exterior before doubling back again. The mine is narrow and can be up to 10cms long, though I didn’t actually measure these ones. The larvae can be active any time from early spring through to autumn and they usually pupate in these mines.

180116 Chromatomyia scolopendri (2)

I found the mines on Christmas Eve, when I was on holiday in Somerset – they were at Ham Hill Country Park, near Yeovil. I’m not sure how common the little Chromatomyia scolopendri fly is, as there are 72 records showing in the Welsh Aderyn biodiversity database but only 38 records for the whole of Britain in the NBN Atlas (so where are all the Welsh records?). It’s also likely that leaf mines are under-recorded so the species may well be more common than these records suggest. Now that I know what to look for, I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one on my walks around south Wales.

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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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