Life on Slate

Back to yesterday: after leaving Burbage Wood I headed along the motorway north straight to Swithland Wood southern car park. If I was going to have any luck with pheromone lures for oak spp. this was as good a place as any. Immediately as I got out of the car I noted the masses of Great Wood-rush and had a quick nosey. Within a meter of starting I found the mine I was looking for ....

Elachista regificella

There is so much of the stuff here that I imagine sweeping at the right time would easily yield adults, rather than trying to rear through.

I headed into the wood to the big slate mound and biggest quarry in the middle, and deployed the pheromone trap in anticipation. Whilst waiting, I noted masses of Adela reaumurella dancing around the oaks, all too flightly and quick to grab a snap. I also thought I'd look at some more leaves and add a couple of Eriocraniidae to the list for the day. Dyseriocrania subpurpurella was decidedly easy, and especially so compared to the earlier effort on hazel! Birch mines were not quite so easy to fine, but I found a few. Eriocrania sangii is easy enough due to the dark larva, the others though are not so straightforward. The mines I found could only really be E. semipurpurella or E. unimaculella, and the couple of larvae I checked match Eriocrania semipurpurella. Not that I managed to catch a useable snap, but the lack of darkened prothoracic spots noted.

Dyseriocrania subpurpurella

Eriocrania sangii

Eriocrania semipurpurella

Whilst mooching about, I also found a large gall on oak ....

This is from the sexual generation Oak Apple Gall Wasp (Biorhiza pallida).

I also found a couple of tortrix larva in leaf rolls that I've not made any attempt to identify as yet ....

Back to the lure, nothing. But I did notice a load of Navelwort that I don't remember noticing in VC55 before (though I probably ignore it as I see it so much in Devon), with a much more interesting looking bunch of plants around that I didn't recognise at all. I grabbed a few snaps, figuring it would be easy to work out subsequently, but couldn't come up with anything other than Wild Candytuft - which didn't look right and would be unlikely anyway. I enlisted some help, and got work back from Geoffrey Hall (Botanical CMR) via Graham Calow that it is actually Shepherd's Cress at its only known site in VC55. Appears I stumbled on an even more unlikely plant!

Navelwort

Shepherd's Cress (Teesdalea nudicaulis)

Back to the lure again, and nothing in the trap but some movement caught my eye and I noticed what appears to be a small pale tortrix perched on a leaf. A deft bit of potting and it was secured. I'm wasn't convinced it was attracted to lure, and after scrutiny I'm even more convinced as I think it is actually a worn female ....

I'm pencilling in this as a female Pammene argyrana, and hindwings seem to agree but I'll get it chopped at some point.

Not quite what I was hoping for, but a casual jaunt around a slate mound turned into something productive anyway.