Blog - leaf miner

The holly leaf miner : Phytomyza ilicis

The holly leaf miner : Phytomyza ilicis

by Chris, 18 January, 2012, 0 comments

Phytomyza ilicis is a (dipteran) fly that lays its eggs in holly leaves. It is one of the few insects that is able to make use of holly leaves as a food source and somewhere to live (when a larva). The female fly lays eggs in the holly leaf (near the main veins or midrib – on the underside) using a thin tube or ovipositor. The eggs are usually laid in early Spring when there are young and ‘soft’ leaves. Older leaves have a thick and tough cuticle that is far more difficult to penetrate. The larvae or maggots emerge from the eggs and tunnel their way along the midrib / veins emerging some time later into the lamina or blade of the leaf. Here they feed on the photosynthetic tissues of the leaf – the palisade and mesophyll layers, creating a leaf mine (see featured image above). The number of leaf mines per leaf is a maximum of three and often just 1 or two. Read more...

Horse chestnut leaf miner moth

Horse chestnut leaf miner moth

by Chris, 24 June, 2011, 7 comments

The ‘progress’ of the horse chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) has been reported in the blog from summer 2006 to more recently, when a national survey was under way. This small, but highly efficient parasitic moth was first ‘discovered’ in trees bordering Lake Ohrid in Macedonia in the mid-Eighties. It was later described as species new to Europe, and since that time has managed to spread through almost all of Europe. Read more...

National Insect Week 21st / 27th June, 2010.

National Insect Week 21st / 27th June, 2010.

by Chris, 16 June, 2010, 1 comments

World wide some million different types of insect have been identified and named, even in the U.K. some 24,000 species can be found. Insects, like bees and bumblebees are economically important in the pollination of many crops (apples etc) and flowers; others like the saproxylic beetles have a role in the recycling of the materials and nutrients from dead and decaying wood. Read more...

Wild Flower Guide

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Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

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