Birds, Leps, Observations & Generalities - the images and ramblings of Mark Skevington. Sometimes.

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Micro Larval Life

My rearing tubs have not been too successful this year, must be getting on for 70% parasitised. Great if you want to rear the parasites, but I was more interested in getting the larvae up to an identifiable instar. Anyway, I have more including a number of micro larvae from Burrow Wood on Sunday. More for ease than aesthetics, I pointed the USB microscope at them.

This one is certainly Eana incanana - feeding in spinnings on bluebell flowers.

This one is probably Epinotia brunnichana - feeding in a leaf-roll on hazel

Nah, absolutely no idea

Again, no idea. Actually this one may even be an early instar macro

Coleophorid sp. that I found feeding on oak, though here it had moved onto a birch leaf. I'm sure it must be either C. lutipennella or C. flavipennella

Also from Burrow Wood, I brought home a tenanted Eriocrania type leaf mine on birch, though by the time I got home the larva had vacated the mine. Through a process of elimination I've identified it as Heringocrania unimaculella: large blotch mine from edge of leaf with no linear gallery (so not salopiella or sparmannella), larva not grey (so not sangii), larva without swollen thoracic segments (so not cicatricella), protrusions from head-capsule visible through thoracic plate (so not semipurpurella).

Heringocrania unimaculella (=Eriocrania unimaculella)

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