No knowing if they were genuinely cases of Infucitinea argentimaculella, or if so were they tenanted, I had to have to go at opening them up to have a squizz. the first one I opened, the biggest, was in fact a dud - no larval workings, just a bit of twig or similar that had been lichenised. the second one, slightly smaller, was immediately more promising as there was a clear silken structure beneath the lichen-coated outer. It was vacated though, with perhaps the remanants of a pupal exuviae at one end.
So onto the third case, the smallest of the three, not much more than a centimeter in length and quite thin. Hold on - is that a ......
So with that, I can far more confidently add Infurcitinea argentimaculella to my list. Not hopeful of rearing this one, but I reckon looking again in a couple of months or so will be more productive.
Something completely different, I've been pleased to note a pair of Collared Doves knocking about the garden lately, often displaying and mating on the fence. Today they were back with another in tow for good measure. This has become a bit of a garden rarity in the last few years. They were milling about picking around the meagre offerings of whatever the Goldfinches had dropped.
I took pity on them and spread a couple of handfuls of sunflower hearts onto a less messy area for them .... and within seconds of me shutting the back door to watch what happened they were ousted by a pair of the usual fat greeder feckers.
Just as well I put enough out to satisfy all of them in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment