I've had a couple more brief leaf-mining sessions around Oxford in between showers this week. The main highlight was 2 mines of Phyllonorycter ulicicolella on Gorse at Sydlings Copse yesterday (ID confirmed by Rob Edmunds). This is a species that doesn't get recorded very often (I can't see any Oxon records?), but it has a very subtle mine that is easy to miss (I've searched for it lots of time before without success!), and may be more widespread. Doug Boyes had it up at Wytham this year as well, in a very isolated (and not especially large) stand of Gorse, so perhaps worth looking out for even in small areas of isolated habitat. I think this is one of the few miners that is easier to record as an adult (beaten from the Gorse) than as a mine. I also found a couple of cases of Coleophora albicosta on the gorse, another one that can sometimes be found in quite small patches of foodplant.
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| The mine - fairly subtle discolouration of a large needle, or stem. Seems to quite often have the purplish bruising? |
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| Opened up to show the frass left by the larva |
I also popped into Chilswell Valley on the 27th, which was rather rainy and quiet - best were Stigmella obliquella and Phyllonorycter viminiella on Willow, as well as Parectopa ononidis on Red Clover.
Hi Will,
ReplyDeleteAccording to John Langmaid's maps (probably a little out-of-date now), Phyllonorycter ulicicolella is known from VC22 Berkshire but not from either VC23 Oxon or VC24 Bucks. Wytham, despite being on the edge of Oxford, is in VC22 but Sydlings Copse is in VC23 so you may well have a nice county first there. Even if not it is still a very good find!