Hello Phil, I'm sure that'll be Stigmella aurella but we really need to see what is going on within the mine and that would need a back-lit picture to confirm. That looks to me like a vacated mine of aurella but if you can find an active one now with the larva present (which should be quite easy) then it has to be that species at this time of year because splendidissimella only mines during the summer and autumn. In most cases the frass line will also tell you which species you have. In aurella it is usually (but not always) dispersed and tends to fill most of the mine, while in splendidissimella it is in a fairly narrow central line.
Hello Phil,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that'll be Stigmella aurella but we really need to see what is going on within the mine and that would need a back-lit picture to confirm. That looks to me like a vacated mine of aurella but if you can find an active one now with the larva present (which should be quite easy) then it has to be that species at this time of year because splendidissimella only mines during the summer and autumn. In most cases the frass line will also tell you which species you have. In aurella it is usually (but not always) dispersed and tends to fill most of the mine, while in splendidissimella it is in a fairly narrow central line.
Thanks Dave,
ReplyDeleteI haven't found an active one yet, but I'll keep looking!