leaf minor predators.

[geoff]

Have some hc,s herethat have been heavily hit by the leaf miner moth for the last 4 years,now this year they apear to be much less affected,if at all to date,I know that blue tits etc acount for about 10% of the minor when it is in the leaf,but I wondered if the moth itself had any predators,these moths/pupa can go through 3 generations a year acording to my researches,and were these trees are there are a lot of bats,could the be responsible for the decline of the leaf minor?

The only treatment these trees have had is chippings laid under the canopy as a mulch,and clearing up & burning of fallen leaves.

 

So ,the big question,whats scoffing the leaf minor,(I suspect in the moth form,but I may be wrong).

Other trees within a mile or so are still getting hit by the minor.

 

[geoff]

Found this little ditty,probably not relevent to my thread,but hey ho here it is!

 

 

Moths and Bat Predation - Butterfly Conservation

[David Humphries]

Really good thread Geoff.

 

I'm constantly looking out for predation when the moths cloud around the canopies as they mate/lay eggs etc.... but as yet have not seen anything specific.

 

I would of thought that the removal of your leaves would account for the significant reduction in numbers about your target tree, as the over wintering of the grubs in this leaf matter is a major part of the cycle.

 

As for bats, I've no idea, but an interesting thought.

 

 

Hmmmmmmm..............

 

 

.

[geoff]

I may well be completely wrong about the bat idea,And I sincerely hope that an indigenous predator adapts to a good food source,the hc's are hard hit by this miner,and it must reduce their ability to resist other ailments,not to mention the bashing they get from owners concerned the tree is going to be a problem in the making.

[janey]

I've always been lead to believe, by people with considerably more letters after their name than me, that there are no major predators of HC leaf miners. But to my way of thinking, if bats can feed on large amounts of midges, then 'miners must be forming part of their diet too, even though they don't tend to be strong flyers?

 

The reducton in this years infestation may be due the unusually cold winter killing off more than normal amounts of overwintering ' miners.

[David Humphries]

I had the impression that although yes there are no indigenous C. orhidella predators, that with time our own ones that keep the mortality rates of the indigenous minors at sustainable levels, would eventually start to "get a taste" of this foreign meat.

 

Not aware of any specific research on this though.

 

As for the cold weather, I believed that the figure of minus 25 was afforded to the levels at which the minor could not survive.

 

Sure I read this from FC alerts somewhere.

 

 

As you've got some time on your hands J, could you not come up to Hampstead & start picking them off, one by one, with tweezers or summit,.?

I'll pay you 25p per 50,000 000 you bag

 

 

 

.

[janey]

 

 

As you've got some time on your hands J, could you not come up to Hampstead & start picking them off, one by one, with tweezers or summit,.?

I'll pay you 25p per 50,000 000 you bag

 

 

 

.

 

Even a few weeks of Jeremy is a slightly better proposition:thumbdown:.

 

But offer to pay for my travel and something towards my chocolate addiction and if something doesn't turn up soon, I might be tempted to be your volunteer