Food Plant: Mistletoe (Viscum album)

Egg: laid in slits in the stems, just below the terminal bud

Mine: April-July

Notes: Larvae develop in the Mistletoe stems and several larvae may inhabit a stem. The presence of larvae may be detected as the stems leak a yellow-brown viscous fluid. The terminal buds die as a result of infestation. The larvae may also very occasionally mine the parenchyma of the Misteltoe leaves, forming very small blotches (contrast with C.woodiana, which forms much larger blotches and has a green larva). Note the larva, characteristcally curled over, in the mine. Pupation is in small brownish cocoons amongst the twigs of the host. Discovered in Britain in 2000 (Foster et. al (2001)) in old orchards in Herefordshire, probably being an overlooked species. Since then it has been found in old orchards in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire.

Data: 2020, Rough Hill orchard, Worcestershire, VC37

Image:© Oliver Wadsworth