I believe this mine on oak is either Stigmella roborella, ruficapitella or atricapitella. If so, can one can get any further? I assume the larva has left and pupation has occurred, but there seems to be no visible exit hole!
Phil T
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
The red blob inside the mine is the dead caterpillar, Phil. Looks like it died a while ago. My guess is it would have been roborella or atricapitella.
ReplyDeleteHi Phil,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you'd need a live caterpillar (this one is deceased), plus knowledge of where the egg was, to even think about getting an ID from a Stigmella mine on oak and even then it might still need rearing through. There are simply too many miners on oak and even seasoned leaf-mine veterans all but steer clear of the tree! Miners on birch can be tricky too, but almost any other tree and you'd likely be able to get an ID from a clear image like that.
Thanks Andrew and Dave,
ReplyDeletePhil