Food Plant: Viscum album (Mistletoe)

Mine: September - May

Notes:The larva overwinters in a narrow crescent shaped mine on the the lower leaf surface and then forms a large blotch mine next spring (as shown). I.variegatum also forms blotches but these are much smaller and the larva curls over in the mine and is not green. A rare miner, being found in old apple orchards and in hedgerows in the West of England and South Wales. Large bunches of Viscum album growing on isolated veteran Crataegus on damp grassland. Surveys have shown this species to be quite widespread in this habitat on the Somerset levels.

Data: 07.i.2022, Somerset, VC5

Image:© Will Langdon