In Loch Groidean on Raasay, I spotted these holes in Nymphaea alba (White Water-lily) leaves.
The only thing I can think of is the larvae of Brown China Mark (Elophila nymphaeata) moths, which we have here and which cut part-circles out of the leaves of Potamogeton polygonifolius (Bog Pondweed) and P. natans (Broad-leaved Pondweed). This moth is known to feed on Nymphaea alba, but I haven’t been able to find any images of feeding damage on this plant that look like this.
Later: Mark has pointed out that it looks from the pattern of the holes as though the culprit chewed a passage through the leaves when they were young and still rolled up, so producing the symmetric array.
On the same day, I noticed some Vulpia bromoides (Squirreltail Fescue) at Balachuirn with strange white markings in the inflorescence. From a distance, I thought it was going to be a fungal infection, but close-up it does not look like it. Not does it look like a fly mine. Stuck!
Then, also on Raasay, I found this fly impaled on a leaf spine of Cirsium arvense (Creeping Thistle). How on earth did that happen? We don’t have shrikes and anyway, a thistle leaf doesn’t seem a likely choice for a bird larder. It feels like a freak accident, but Seth says he has seen similar elsewhere.
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles 
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