Heavy showers.
On 24th I showed the early mine of Ectoedemia albifasciella. This is the (vacated) mature mine, showing the gallery at the bottom and the blotch at the top. The egg can be seen at the midrib in the right-hand image. Entire mine about 10mm. from top to bottom.
Staying on Oak: I also showed a vacated mine tentatively identified as the micromoth Stigmella roborella on 24th. Today I found a tenanted mine, and the larva has been confirmed as Stigmella roborella. This is a new species for Ireland, and concludes a two-year search to confirm the initial sighting.
The whole mine, on a small Oak leaf. The egg can just be seen towards the right of the leaf:
A close-up of the mine showing the narrow frass line and the pale larva.
An extreme close-up of the larva, showing the pale brown pro-thorax marking which separates it from Stigmella atricapitella. The egg is also on the upper side of the leaf, whereas in S. atricapitella the egg is always on the underside. The larva is about 3mm long at this point.
