Newport Road, Chepstow
Acrocercops brongnairdella on Holm Oak
Whilst inspecting some maturing Holm Oak trees this morning for leaf-miner's, I managed to find all three of the leaf miners that host on this tree.
These being Phyllonorycter messaniella (Garden Midget), Stigmella suberiova (Holm-oak Pigmy) and Ectoedemia heringella (New Holm-oak Pigmy).
It was what I hoped for but was quite surprised as this the busy road in and out of Chepstow and didn't really expect these moths to put up with traffic and higher levels of pollutants.
There are three trees lined up here at location and as I hadn't visited the third yet, decided to make an inspection. It was here I came across a group of large papery blotches close together. It immediately struck a chord but what exactly had caused them was best found out online.
Acrocercops brongnairdella leaf mine
Looking at a leaf-miners site I soon found the cause, the micro Acrocercops brongnairdella (Brown Oak Slender.
Contacting Sam Bosanquet, he informed me that it was very uncommon in Vice County 35 and had never been found on Holm Oak before.
He had only seen it on deciduous Oak, however it does mine evergreen Oak too.
I had only thought 3 leaf miners had hosted on this tree until now, however this new discovery has opened the door to a 4th to look out for in the future.
Nice one Nick. It's pretty common on evergreen oak in Cardiff and especially Swansea, in fact I've never seen mines on deciduous oaks!
ReplyDeleteThanks George.
ReplyDeleteI've got a feeling I have seen it on deciduous Oak somewhere on my travels, but dismissed it as a fly mine!
I have seen many Holm Oak trees now but seeing this micro on there is proving to be a one off rarity in V35.