Wednesday 25 March 2015

Purple patch - in miniature

These diminutive guys really do put the micro into micromoth.

Over recent days the Eriocrania species I collected as mines 10 months ago have begun to emerge and they are well worth a little rearing effort:

Eriocrania cicatricella ex mine on Birch
Eriocrania cicatricella


Eriocrania semipurpurella ex mine on Birch
Eriocrania semipurpurella

The mines of the various Eriocraniidae will start to appear over the next few weeks (some species earlier than others of course) and I certainly recommend a spot of mine hunting and even a bit of rearing through, they're not that difficult, you just have a long time to wait.