345 Phyllonorycter rajella mine and empty pupal case on Alder. Found near the towpath at Sowerby Bridge, Sept.6th 08. Note the typically prominent central crease to the mine. Sometimes rearing members of this family can be as simple as collecting the mine and placing it in a rearing pot/jam jar and awaiting emergence, sometimes within a day or two.
345 Phyllonorycter rajella , July 5th 2014. Reared from mines on Alder on the towpath near the tip at Sowerby Bridge.
351 Phyllonorycter lautella, Apr.12th 2011. Reared from a mine on oak found near Norland village on Mar.30th that year. I suspect that there maybe a permanent colony here. A personal favourite of mine for three reasons.
1. It's a beautifully marked moth - unlike most of the other"run of the mill" phyllos.
2. It only took 13 days to rear - no overwintering involved.
3. It was totally unexpected - I was quite convinced it was the much more common P.quercifoliella.
One other record of a moth reared from a mine on oak found a Tag meadow on Dec.14th 2013. The moth emerged on Mar.1st the following year.
356 Phyllonorycter tristrigella, Mar.17th 2010. Reared from mines on Elm found in Bankhouse wood the previous autumn.
358 Phyllonorycter froelichiella larvae and mines on Alder, the towpath at Brighouse, Sept.22nd 09. Typically several mines to one leaf.
Phyllonorycter mines are overwintered outside in nylon pockets secured to a numbered, wooden frame for identification purposes.They are then brought indoors around the end of February for the adults to emerge.
358 Phyllonorycter froelichiella pupae, Mar.19th 2010. Reared from the mines illustrated above. Having survived one of the harshest winters on record they are removed from their mines and kept in an airtight jar with a tiny piece of damp tissue for humidity. Any condensation on the jar wall is removed daily to avoid mould forming on the pupae. Emergence is imminent as the wing pattern becomes visible.
358 Phyllonorycter froelichiella, Mar.20th 2010. Reared from the mines illustrated above. Another variation of markings within this fascinating genus of moths.
361 Phyllonorycter trifasciella mine and larva on Honeysuckle, the garden, Dec.10th 05. My first ever phyllonorycter mine and my only record of this species. It's a shame I didn't know how to rear them through in those days.
363 Phyllonorycter joannisi = platanoidella mine on Norway Maple, Elland Bridge, July 2nd 2014. Also recorded from two areas of Manor Heath park.
363 Phyllonorycter joannisi = platanoidella, July 9th 2014. Reared from a mine found on "purple" Norway Maple at Manor Heath park in June.
363 Phyllonorycter joannisi = platanoidella, detail of the above moth. Being one of the smaller phyllos with a wingspen of 6-7 mm I had to use the Panasonic Lumix on full 24x zoom and still had to crop the photo a fair bit to get the desired image. Amazingly (to me at any rate) there is even some scale detail visible in this close-up view - I can't thank the people at panasonic enough for creating such a wonderful camera!
364 Phyllonorycter geniculella mine on Sycamore, Norland village, Sept.5th 2012. A common species and the mines are easy to find.
358 Phyllonorycter geniculella, June 20th 2014. Reared from a mine on Sycamore found in Bankhouse wood a few days previously.
366a Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner, mines on Horse Chestnut at woodland by the Shay football ground, July 11th 2010. First discovered in Britain at Wimbledon in 2002 and in Calderdale in Oct. 2008 by Derek Parkinson. Since then it has rapidly spread throughout Calderdale with many trees now being severely affected.
366a Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner mines and larvae. The same leaf as above lit from behind.
366a Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner, May 25th 2014. An abundant species now, this one was found on my bedroom window.
368 Phyllocnistis unipunctella, one of two mines on poplar sp., Park Wood crematorium, July 28th 2010. A very distinctive "snail trail" mine. This is my only record.