Friday 30 October 2020

Stigmella splendidissimella??

A first toe dipped into the dangerous waters of mining...is this Stigmella splendidissimella?

Barnaby Briggs, Iver, Bucks




2 comments:

  1. Hi Barnaby,

    As has been mentioned before, the first thing with leaf-mines is to accurately identify the plant. Also, to get an ID for a corridor miner like this it is necessary to take a back-lit image of the leaf so that all the details of the mine can be seen clearly. It is really not clear enough here. If the plant is a Rubus spp (Bramble) then the likeliest miner is Stigmella aurella, but as you suggest, Stigmella splendidissimella is also a possibility and it would really need to be reared through to the adult if the latter species was suspected.

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  2. Really helpful, I realised after looking at a few other photos that backlighting is better. Thanks!

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