By Harry Green
Our Elm Tour provided plenty of records of the common elm leaf gall Aceria ulmicola (Nalepa) (=Aculus =Eriophyes ulmi = campestricola). The causer is a mite and it appears to be restricted to English Elm Ulmus procera - the common elm with small rough leaves. We also had two new county records. Tetraneura ulmi, the Fig Gall which is a biggish pouch on the upper blade of the leaf caused by an aphid - one specimen found on the Huntingdon Elm Ulmus x vegeta var outside the pub at Barnards Green, Malvern. Also Eriosoma ulmi, a leaf roll gall caused by waxy aphids, on Small-leaved Elm Ulmus minor planted near the Mitre Oak, Crossway Green by the side of the A449.
| The galls were identified using the test version of Keys to galls - Identification of galls on plants and fungi in Britain by Redfern, M, Shirley, P and Bloxham M. This will eventually be published by the Field Studies Council in the AIDGAP series, and it will revolutionise gall recording. Thanks to John Meiklejohn for confirming my identifications. |  |
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