Thursday, 7 November 2019

Longwick leaf mines on Hazel

A quick walk to the village post office was stopped by my noticing a hazel growing out of a hedge on the main road. I noticed a number of, no longer tenanted, mines which you can see below.

I struggled a bit to align the photos with the UK leafminers website. I am assuming they must be Ectoedemia minimella? Although they are not entirely convincing. Help would be welcome!



3 comments:

  1. Hi Andy, this looks like Stigmella microtheriella to me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Andrew

    I agree with Nigel that this is Stigmella microtheriella (probably the most commonly found miner of hazel and hornbeam). Ectoedemia minimella starts as a very contorted gallery and then eats out a blotch whereas the mines in your pictures show a continuous corridor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Many thanks both. I'm slowly but surely starting to add the local leaf miners to the menu and this is very helpful!

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.