MOM UPDATE 9/10/09

A Hint for Autumn and Winter

If you see Typha with an 'exploded' seedhead from now until Spring, it is probably occupied by the larvae of Limnaecia phragmitella http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2067
Blastobasis lacticolella http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2066
or the Het bug, Chilacis typhae http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukmicromoths/files/ifs/het

In Spring, unoccupied seedheads also explode to disperse the seeds, so larval search is more difficult.

The picture shows a seedhead occupied by larvae of Limnaecia phragmitella at Red Rocks Marsh, Hoylake, Cheshire on 5th October 2009.

Images and text courtesy of Ian Smith