Mine Sweeper

I've never really been one for looking for/at leafmines. Mainly because half the time I'm not sure on the plant, and when I am cause it's obvious/common (oak!) then the potential for mines is so great that it's nigh on impossible to use that as a starting point. So aside from a few very common or specialist species, my tenanted/vacated mine records are thin on the ground. I really ought to make more effort this autumn, but if I do find and collect mines I then need a means of capturing that for ID comparisons/confirmations.

Tonight I found a vacated mine of the ubiquitous Stigmella aurella on a small invasive bramble in the garden. I've had a go at scanning the mine, and using my hardly-ever used USB microscope to check for the egg at the start of the mine (which is necessary for some species I believe). Not convinced the results are good enough but maybe worth trying a few more ......

Stigmella aurella - vacated mine on Bramble.

Long gallery mine, frass dispersed throughout the mine but not in a neat narrow line.

Egg (I think) at the start of the mine on the upper surface.

Badly snapped egg at stupid magnification.