Ian Morgan's recent post about Pachyrhabda steropodes prompted me to check the soft shield ferns and others in the garden here.
Alas, so
far no sign of steropodes, but plenty of spore eating activity in
evidence: some on soft shield fern, a little on male fern, and lots on
the Japanese and Chinese fern, Dryopteris uniformis:
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| Dryopteris uniformis |
Dissecting one of the little heaps revealed a larva, which I take to be Psychoides filicivora. I have yet to see an adult.
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| Psychoides filicivora, larva |
The few hartstongue ferns here are some way off from having mature sporangia. I shall keep checking these and other ferns here.
Thanks for looking for Pachyrhabda Peter. Psychoides filicivora larval workings can be commonly found on various ferns here in Carms, whereas I`ve only found larvae of P. verhuella once (and another separate record of an adult). I should have mentioned in my previous post regarding Pachyrhabda that it can occur on male fern Dryopteris filix-mas, particularly when the latter grows in proximity to soft shield-fern.
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