grubs in Sallow catkin and elm buds?

RKB · #1 (**permalink**) 31-03-2011, 06:37 PM

Bit of a long shot, but has anyone got any idea what grubs would be found burrowing in a Sallow catkin, or a breaking elm bud at this time of year? The grubs are small (c.5 mm), whitish-yellow and generally non-descript.

Dogghound · #2 (**permalink**) 31-03-2011, 07:11 PM

Do they have heads (capsulated) or legs? any evidence of galls or silk on the catkin/bud?

Quite a lot of species from the Hymenoptera, diptera, coleoptera and lepidoptera feed on catkins.

Can you get any photo's?

RKB · #3 (**permalink**) 31-03-2011, 09:42 PM

No sign of web or gall. On the Sallow, they are burrowing in the core of the catkin, no legs, small brownish head, otherwise whitish maggot-like body. No photos.

No info on the elm, other than seeing tit species searching for and eating them. The birds are specifically and methodically searching through elm buds that are just opening, pulling off certain ones and then extracting a tiny grub. That the elms are attracting large number of birds suggests it's a mass availability of these grubs in the buds. The birds are spending hours/days doing this, and the ground below is littered with discarded buds.

Was wondering if there was some specific species/group that could account for it.