Food Plant: Eriophorum angustifolium (Cotton-grass)

Mine: September-May

Notes: Mines the stem and lower leaf in the autumn, then overwinters in the mine. In Spring the leaf is mined, initially in the reddish basal part then into the green part of the leaf. The mine is from 20-65mm long. The mine is hidden and frass filled. It then pupates in a cocoon in detritus or in the leaf. The habitat is damp moors, fens and salt marshes. A mine in the field s shown on Cotton Grass in early January, visible as a reddish suffusion at the base of the left hand green leaf on the focal plant (circled here). This is a relatively extensive mine, travelling a long way up into the leaf, and is fairly dark. Many are lower and paler red. The same mine is then shown on the right with backlighting to reveal the larva, faintly visible at the top of the mine. Adults reared and larvae DNA barcoded to confirm ID.

Data: 07.i.2022, Westhay Moor, Somerset, VC6

Image:© Will Langdon