Adam's post encouraged me to look at my Olive Tree ( a little too grand a term for a young bush!). It is only two years old but has flowered for the first time last month. There were no signs of anything resembling the feeding signs of Zelleria Oleastrella but I did find two larval spinnings ( sadly without larvae). In both cases it involved the spinning together of two or three leaves. Looking at literature Prays oleae is listed as having been seen in the UK and there is some resemblance to the pictures I can find - however there may be far more mundane possibilities! Anyone have more experience with Olive Trees?
I attach a photograph of the spinnings after I had "un-hooked " them in search of larvae. There might be a pupal case somewhere but as the flower heads have been turned brown it's quite hard to see!
Last nights trapping was much reduced with only three Diamond Back moths and a Silver Y of migrant interest. Thie pug below has me stumped. At first it was resting like a dwarf pug but doesnt quite look right. It has a wing span of 17mm. Opinions welcome!
Sorry, only just seen your post.
ReplyDeleteA possibility for your Olive spinnings is Cacoecimorpha pronubana, the Carnation Tortrix. I've found them on Olive in England before. Indeed, they seem to prefer Mediterranean plants, such as Bay Trees and what I think was Southernwood, where I've also found them. Not so surprising, I suppose, since that's where they come from. And they do make untidy, leaf-overlapping spinnings.
Thanks for your response. That is something I hadn't considered so will look into it!
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