Tag Archives: moth larvae in leaf mines

331/366 Leaf mines: Phyllonorycter leucographella

26 Thursday Nov 2020

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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.

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

326/366 Leaf mines: on Beech

21 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by in autumn, insects, leaves, trees

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

314/366 Leaf mines: Parornix anglicella

09 Monday Nov 2020

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Here’s another leaf mine to look for in your local hedgerows, a very distinctive mine on Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) made by the larvae of the micro moth Parornix anglicella, also known as the Hawthorn slender.

201109 parornix anglicella cones (1)

Although the newly hatched moth larva initially creates a corridor mine and then a blotch, it later makes itself a cone-shaped tent, using silk to adhere the bent-over edge to the main part of the leaf, and these cones are very easy to spot. Turn over the leaf to view the underside and you’ll find incredibly beautiful, almost sculptural structures, some resembling miniature latticework pyramids.

You can read more scientific detail about the leaf mine on the UK Fly Mines website here, and see what the adult moth looks like on the UK Moths website here.

201109 parornix anglicella cones (6)

307/366 Leaf mines: Tischeria ekebladella

02 Monday Nov 2020

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I mentioned in a recent post (Gone galling, again, 28 October) that October was a good month to find galls and mines on leaves and, in fact, that also extends into November, or until the deciduous trees have shed their leaves and those fallen leaves have turned to mush, and the leaves of wild plants have also become unrecognisable in the mud under our feet.

201102 Tischeria ekebladella (1)

So, let’s start this mini series on leaf mines with a look at the blotch mines made on Oak (and sometimes Sweet chestnut) by the larvae of the micro moth Tischeria ekebladella. The blotch starts off looking quite white but often browns, from the centre, with age, giving it a look that one astute observer described as a fried egg. The larva creates a cocoon within the blotch and remains there until its ready to pupate in the springtime. The adult moth emerges from pupation and is on the wing in May and June.

By holding leaves up to the light, I managed to photograph larvae within a couple of mines, though, one of our local moth experts, George, who’s a senior moth ecologist with Butterfly Conservation, told me that the larva in the photo on the right below looks to have been parasitised and a different creature’s larva seems to have emerged from the Tischeria larva. Such is the way of Nature.

Leafminer on bramble

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in insects, nature, plants

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Following on from my Leafmines 101 post and the one about leafminers on Hart’s tongue fern, here’s another leaf mine I think I can identify (note the ‘I think’!).

180129 Stigmella aurella on bramble (1)

The reason I’m hesitant about positively IDing this one is because there are two species of micro moth whose larvae produce very similar mines on bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.) leaves. One is the Glossy bramble pigmy moth (Stigmella splendidissimella) but the more likely in this case is the Golden pigmy moth (Stigmella aurella).

Though it’s very common and widespread in Britain, I’ve never seen this tiny moth (images on the UK moths website here) but the mines its larvae create on bramble leaves are everywhere I look. As you can see, the mine starts out small but, as the larva within chews and chews, so it widens its mine to accommodate its expanding girth.

You can see if the inhabitant is still at home by holding the leaf up to the light. Most of these seemed to be empty, as you can see from the images below (the central black lines are the frass). I’ve never actually opened a mine to have a look at the larva when it has been inside but, if I did, I would see an orangey-yellow grub with a brownish tinge to its head (there are images on the Bladmineerders website here).

180129 Stigmella aurella on bramble (4)180129 Stigmella aurella on bramble (5)