The Phyllonorycters are a group of small, beautifully marked micro moths that are well worth searching out. Here are some notes on my recent discoveries.
Those of you who came to the SMG Redgrave meet recently saw two species I’d found as adults during a lunchtime stroll along the Hadleigh Riverside Walk. I already had my suspicions as to he identity of one and this was comfirmed when Neil very kindly keyed them out as strigulatella (BF344) and maestingella (BF341).
In my Orange-tailed Clearwing blog I mentioned that I’d found several mines at Barton Mills that looked good for lantanella (BF331). Using a helpful tip picked up from this blog spot (wrapping damp tissue around the stem) an adult emerged on Wednesday. Another new species for me.
And finally .. late last year I found some vacated mines on a neighbours Sweet Chestnut that Tony confirmed as belonging to messaniella (BF321), another species I’ve never seen in the adult form. Roll forward to this week and on a trip back from the local shop I remembered to have another look for mines. After a bit of a search I located some likely candidates. Using the tissue technique above, I only had to wait 48 hrs for an adult to emerge. Of course, seeing is one thing … trying to get a decent photo is another so, for the time being, you’ll have to make do with pic that shows a vacated mine with pupal case (left) and a tenated mine (right).
Yes I’m still working on photographing small moths like the Phyllonorycters (quite a lot around at the moment). I’ve ended up photoing under the dissecting microscope after knocking them off. Not up to the quality that Neil produces!