Mint provides new currency for the garden

Potted up this Acleris literana flitting about the trap a couple of nights ago, a new one for the garden.




I love the colour; there aren't too many mint green moths.

What's that cat?

The recent weather also means that the frequency of early stage finds is increasing, with plenty of larvae to be found, their location betrayed by the distorting effects of their spinnings in many cases.

I have tentative IDs for these, any suggestions welcome though, and hopefully will be able to rear them through to adulthood.

Anthophila fabriciana? On Stinging Nettle

Pandemis corylana? On Bramble

Early stages: Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

The Rosemary bushes in my garden are covered in dozens of easy to spot larval spinnings of Epiphyas postvittana: if this is anything to go by, it looks like this moth will be extremely abundant this year.

The Ox-eyes have it

Lots of very active larvae of Bucculatrix nigricomella on the Oxeye Daisy plants in the garden this week: both of young, mining larvae and later free-living stages. This species took my 2014 total to over 50, achieved by the last day of February.

Early stages: Caryocolum tricolorella

Found several larval spinnings of this species today; it's worth having a close look at any Greater Stitchwort as the distortion caused by the larva is quite obvious. Dave

Another miner for the year list

While ever there are leaves on the trees it is worth the effort having a quick look for leaf mining activity. The are still plenty of leaves on the Goat Willow around here and as a result a good scattering of tenanted mines of Ectoedemia intimella on pretty much all of the trees I search.

More from the case files...

There are still larval cases of some of the Coleophorids to be found, here are a few of my relatively recent finds:
Coleophora albitarsella on Ground Ivy Coleophora solitariella on Stitchwort Coleophora limosipennella on Elm