Purple patch - in miniature

These diminutive guys really do put the micro into micromoth.

Over recent days the Eriocrania species I collected as mines 10 months ago have begun to emerge and they are well worth a little rearing effort:

Eriocrania cicatricella ex mine on Birch

Eriocrania semipurpurella ex mine on Birch


The mines of the various Eriocraniidae will start to appear over the next few weeks (some species earlier than others of course) and I certainly recommend a spot of mine hunting and even a bit of rearing through, they're not that difficult, you just have a long time to wait.

Miner miscella-ny

Whilst this was one miner I had been searching chalk downland for for a while, it ended up being a totally accidental discovery...Mompha miscella on Common Rock-Rose (Helianthemum nummularium)



I had noticed various larval spinnings on Rock Rose and had potted some up, I decided to add a few extra leaves as food supply and lo and behold one of these was tenanted by the larva of Mompha miscella.  This appears to be pretty scarce in Kent (or perhaps more accurately, scarcely recorded or looked for).

There are also plenty of Eriocrania mines on Birch now including: