Birds, Leps, Observations & Generalities - the images and ramblings of Mark Skevington. Sometimes.

Sunday 6 August 2017

Mining Crataegus

Here's some badly-photographed examples of the mines I found on hawthorn on Friday, all having been confirmed as what I thought they were. These also show how different species actually 'mine' the leaf:

Stigmella crataegella - vacated mine.
Gallery mine with linear frass at the start of the mine, and then coiled reddish frass.

Parornix angelicella - tenanted mine.
The larva spins a lobe over into a tent and grazes the internal surface within - will create two or three new tents as it grows.

Apple Leaf Miner (Lyonetia clerkella) - vacated mine.
Long, winding, thin frass-filled gallery mine. The only one I immediately recognised, this species mines all sorts including our flowering cherry.

Pear Leaf Blister Moth (Leucoptera malifoliella) - vacated mine.
This blotch mine just looks dark and brown without shining light through to see the whirls of frass.

Pretty sure this is also the larva of Leucoptera malifoliella, spinning a cocoon to pupate in.

And if it works, here's a quick vid of this larva in action.

Presumed Leucoptera malifoliella

I've got a few of these leaves in a container - let's see what, if anything, emerges for a photo!

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