A Parasitoid of Ectoedemia weaveri

A parasitoid has emerged from one of my Cowberry mines. The exit hole is clearly visible in the cocoon of Ectoedemia weaveri.
I am unsure if this is a chalcidoid or a braconid so have emailed the photo to Mark Shaw and Dick Askew for advice.
Watch this space!

Beating (and a weaveri update)

Here is a tiny Mottled Umber caterpillar shaken from an elm at Hollins Hall, Baildon VC64, this morning.

I lay a ground sheet underneath the tree and then shake branches vigorously and see what drops off.

This particular elm isn't quite in leaf yet, after the harsh winter, so I will probably wait a couple of weeks before returning to gather some larger larvae.

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The Ectoedemia weaveri mines now have opaque central blotches where the larvae have lined the inside of the leaf with silk and become cocoons.

Apparently, because the leaf is tough, the larvae prepare for their escape as an adult by gnawing through to the cuticle and then constructing a silk-lined corridor directed to this spot.

I am expecting an emergence at some point in the next fortnight.

Water Shrew and Cowberry.

Last night my cat, Ziggy, brought home a Water Shrew Neomys fodiens which was a surprise as my garden "pond" really amounts to no more than a puddle!

I am not sure of the status of this small mammal in West Yorkshire. Ziggy normally specialises in House Mice.

The Water Shrew is larger than other shrews, this one being more than 10cm in length. The ears on this species are entirely concealed but bear a tuft of white hairs as can be discerned on this photograph.

I have spent the winter preparing a list of leafmines to look for in 2010 and I took advantage of today's fine weather to ascend Barden Moor (VC64) in search of Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea). I managed to locate some hosting the under-recorded mine Ectoedemia weaveri.

Now is a good time to look for the evergreen Cowberry, before the much more frequently found, Bilberry comes into leaf.