Large Birch Purple

A birch-feeding leaf-miner most easily recorded from tenanted mines.&nbsp; There is a strong west Somerset bias to the records, most notably from the Porlock area; it is the only one of the birch-feeding Eriocranias that has so far been recorded on the Blackdowns (at Buckland Wood).&nbsp; The only other records are from Leigh Woods in 1994 and the Weston-super-Mare area in 2011.&nbsp; It has not been recorded from central/east Mendip and the Shapwick Heath area, unlike many of its close relatives.

Washed Purple

Another birch-feeder that is best recorded in the larval stage as a tenanted mine.&nbsp; It is most common in the upland west of the county, on Exmoor and Quantock, on both of which there must be many more sites than have so far been found.&nbsp; Also at Langford Heathfield and Ash Priors Common, with a single record from VC6, at Rowberrow Warren in 2021.&nbsp; It may occur at further birch-rich sites on Mendip.

Early Purple

A birch-feeding <i>Eriocrania</i> that needs to be recorded as a tenanted leaf-mine or by dissection, and it is undoubtedly under-recorded as a result.&nbsp; Most records are from upland West Somerset, particularly the Quantocks and the Porlock area, though no doubt there are more sites to be found.&nbsp; It has also been recorded from the Shapwick/Ham Wall area and post-industrial sites in the east Mendips, with older records from Cheddar Gorge and Leigh Woods that could usefully be confirmed.&nbsp; The record from west of Crewkerne in south Somerset is erroneous.

Eriocrania semipurpurella

Early Purple