Conker shortage caused by moth invasion

These magnificent Horse Chestnut Trees in Ruskin Park, London seem to have avoided this blight this year. It would be very unfortunate if they were attacked in years to come as they are such a impressive sight right in the middle of the park.

Ruskin Park is our local park. Visit our site at http://www.loughboroughjunction.com

loughboroughjunction has contributed a photo to this story.

This is the first year my trees have borne fruit. There they are- by the hundreds.

A recent windstorm, spawned by hurricane Ike, knocked down a rather large number of trees in our area. The weight of the nuts made me think my American Chestnuts would have a hard go of it in the windstorm. Though they were severely stressed, they came through unscathed.

daveemerson has contributed a photo to this story.

Has this moth spread to Ireland yet?

I have not heard of this before. I took my picture in Michigan, U.S

Eddie Brock has contributed a photo to this story.

This photo was taken for an assignment in our local photo club for the topic autumn. It is a studio shot lit by a wireless flash. More description about the setup can be found under the link.

fuchsphoto has contributed a photo to this story.

Thanks for using my image and making me aware of this site. These are beautiful magastic trees and grow to huge proportions, it would be a shame to lose them . I hope a solution is found, i'm all in favour of let nature run its course but not destructively.

It's an important story, but a couple of errors (OK, I'm a pedant!):

It's the Horse Chestnut that is affected, not the Chestnut (an entirely different tree!).

The moth is not called "Leaf Miner Larvae" - that's a generic description of the caterpillars of  many types of moth that live between the leaf cuticles, eating tracks across them. The common name is Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner, but Cameraria ohridella is what it should be called...

It's amazing how fast the moth spreads. The first year they appeared in Morden Hall Park, every leaf seemed to have turned brown by August. I thought about calculating the numbers of caterpillars involved, but it was too scary... 

I am fortunate to live on an Island off the NW coast of Scotland. Here we escaped Dutch Elm disease and hopefully we will escape this current infestation and our most colourful autumn trees will be safe. Our trees have to stand against extreme weather conditions - and I am constantly adding to my own collection of trees on my land. Let us hope that as weather conditions seem to be getting more erratic, my little contribution will survive and thrive for the wildlife around me.

The tamed shrew has contributed a photo to this story.

I took this photo over a year ago when I first noticed a problem. This year the trees have been attacked again, but this time to a much greater degree.

Limbo Poet has contributed a photo to this story.

follystone has contributed a photo to this story.

Thanks fo using my pictures, they are taken near Leersum, nature reserve Utrechtse Heuvelrug, the Netherlands.
Kind regards,
Adrianne

TeenyWeeny Designs has contributed a photo to this story.

Downtown chestnut tree in Budapest (Central - Eastern Europe)

AttilacS has contributed a photo to this story.

Lots of trees on the Isle of Wight, UK have this infection - it is a real shame to see such beautiful trees dying.

I have always loved conkers, I think it is something to do with the rich colours, I still can't walk pass a newly fallen concker without picking it up and admire it's natural beauty.

p.miller73 has contributed a photo to this story.

This tree still looks healthy to me in 2008. But having grown out of the conker stage (aged 70+) I don't know the conker situation.

casillero has contributed a photo to this story.

I live in Hungary and the leaf miner does not seem to have had any affect on the conker crop here.  I have never seen so many conkers- you walk down the street and conkers are dropping off the trees all over.

Although it didn't look too bad when I took the photo, there are now a lot of brown leaves on the trees.

DerekL has contributed a photo to this story.

Conkers growing at the top of a Chestnut tree - Kew gardens, London

Chris.23 has contributed a photo to this story.

These photos were taken on the Long Walk in Windsor UK a long avenue with chestnut trees lining both sides. Visited recently and it's once again full of conkers. Didn't notice anything odd about them, but on my way to work riding through Virginia Water there are many smaller conkers lying on the ground.

5k1nnyt1g3r has contributed a photo to this story.

Our nearest big Horse Chestnut (where I got the conkers in picture to make crochet copies of) is on a roundabout. I must brave the traffic and see how it's faring!

Angry Angel has contributed a photo to this story.

I have to confess to having been a huge conker fan when I was a wee young lad at school, especially enjoying all the rumours of how to make you're conker the haerdest, many a country walk would end in climbing trees and throwing up sticks to knock down the largest conkers to then scuttle home and bake, store in airing cupoard, soak in vinigaer and all the other "tricks" to try and have the champion conker that season. Nothing beat putting a washer under the conker just above the know on teh string to spread the load more..aahhh the joys of dads getting involved and making it technical!

Thanks for using the photo, the conkers are from Clifton, Bristol collected a few weeks ago.

maverik has contributed a photo to this story.

The conkers seem to be doing ok in West London. I collected mine within short walk of my house, though I have noticed more blemishes on them that I've seen in the past.

Mr Kiki has contributed a photo to this story.

These conkers were gathered from trees which I've been told are suffering from an infestation of the moth larvae. The conkers seem much the same as normal, but the leaves on the trees turned brown prematurely.

aravah has contributed a photo to this story.

I took this picture as part of a project for a photogrpahy night class. Glad it was of help. I have just read the story in the paper, it is a real shame because they are beautiful things conkers.

Rachieb2007 has contributed a photo to this story.

Horse Chestnut Tree in Admirals Park, Chelmsford, Essex. Photo taken 24th Sept 2008

phoebedslr has contributed a photo to this story.

Conkers remind us all of our childhood. It would be a dreadful shame not to see them in their full splendour. They are part of our British Autumn.

teenyteapot has contributed a photo to this story.