He explained that leaf mining is the term given to the activity of the moth grub – the burrowing into the wafer thin leaf and eating the leaf flesh. As they do this they leave little traces – the hole of entry, their journey through the leaf, and their final resting place – where they build their cocoon. The next phases - pupation and then life as a moth. These are tiny critters, and when they emerge they have a wingspan of a few millimetres. He picked leaves from Hawthorns, Blackberries, Sycamores, Oaks, and Creeping Thistles. Holding the leaves to the light and looking through his magnifying glass, the world of the micro moth becomes visible.
My favourite was the Coleophora peribenanderi (559) it has a horn like cocoon and travels across the surface of the Creeping Thistle carrying its cocoon. Kev gave me a thistle leaf with 2 horns. If I put this leaf in a jar, cover the jar with muslin cloth, in the spring 2 micro moths should emerge. For the next few weeks these feeding grubs in their tiny cigar liker homes will be in a Creeping Thistle lined terrarium at The Outhouse, Woolton.
The other moth that was of great interest to me was the Firethorn Leaf Miner. This is a new species to our shores thought to have arrived in the 1990’s as a consequence of the horticultural industry, the importing of exotic plants to adorn our gardens. With no natural predators this moth has become widespread. To find out more about this moth Kev told me to go to the website and look up entry 332a.
It’s also worth checking out www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/pages/phyllo.html

Kev has offered to be involved in the next stage of “Natural Succession” and search for moths on the Brownfield sites of Liverpool. I would welcome his expertise…