Much excitement last Sunday! I sent this tweet to Rob, who runs the British Leafminers website:

I’ve got larvae emerging from Hazel catkins!!! The lid of the container was slightly ajar & one’s done a runner, first to a cactus, now on a succulent on my kitchen window. The other’s still in the container. Might these be Epinotia tenerana?

Rob kindly confirmed my identification of these little critters as the larvae of the Nut Bud moth (Epinotia tenerana). Though these are obviously not leafminers, it was, in fact, Rob who inspired me to collect these catkins in the first place. In a tweet a couple of weeks ago, he also recommended harvesting catkins from Birch, native Alder and Italian alder, and putting them in containers to see what might emerge from them. He wasn’t specific about what to expect but I was intrigued so went a’harvesting.

If I had the right equipment and more space, I would try to rear these larvae. If you want to try this for yourself, you can read more about this moth and find instructions on the UK Moths website.

Unfortunately, there’s no sign of anything in my other containers so I might try collecting catkins from different locations and trying again.