Weekend Moths: 7 Aug

A cooler night meant fewer moths than the previous week, but some of the highlights are here. White-spotted Pug ( Eupithecia tripunctaria) and Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata) were new species.

#691 Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)

#896 White-spotted Pug (Eupithecia tripunctaria)

#776 Currant Pug (Eupithecia assimilata)

#897 Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata)

#111 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

#256 Gold Argent (Argyresthia goedartella)

#696 Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria)

#850 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula)

Moth Trap Caddisflies

These are two of the caddisflies that are attracted most frequently to my moth trap. They both have a long flying season, from spring right through to autumn and are readily attracted to light. There’s not really any suitable water for them nearby, so they must travel quite far afield during the night.

#765 Hydropsyche contubernalis

#686 Limnephilus lunatus

Weekend's Micros

I don’t always catch a lot of micro moths, but this weekend (in addition to a lot of ermine moths, greys and grass moths) there were several interesting micros. Below a selection of them, including the five new species caught: Dingy Dowd, Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner, Grey Knot-horn, Spindle Knot-horn and Large Grey. These take the garden list several steps closer to 900, with now 252 species of moth.

#892 Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner (Cameraria ohridella)

#891 Dingy Dowd (Blastobasis adustella)

#894 Spindle Knot-horn (Nephopterix angustella)

#893 Grey Knot-horn (Acrobasis advenella)

#669 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis heparana)

#633 Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella)

#817 Rosy Tabby (Endotricha flammealis)

#895 Large Grey (Scoparia subfusca)

Weekend's Macros

A huge haul of moths on Saturday morning, with a selection of exotic & beautiful examples. 138 individuals of 55 species took me half the weekend to go through the photos. Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria) was the only new macro species, but there were some new micros too - more on those when I get time.

#890 Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria)

#673 Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius)

#245 Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)

#546 Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

#808 August Thorn (Ennomos quercinaria)

#827 Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos alniaria)

#778 Cloaked Minor (Mesoligia furuncula)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#663 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)

Dor Beetle (Geotrupes spiniger)

This Dor Beetle, Geotrupes spiniger (#889) is my first dung beetle in the garden. Unfortunately it had got itself caught in a spider web, and eaten. I’m not sure if was attracted to light by the moth trap or was just unlucky. I love the blue colour on the underside of these beetles. The beetles lay their eggs under the dung of herbivorous animals.

Water Beetle - Agabus nebulosus (#888)

It took me a while to nail down the identification of this water beetle that turned up one morning in the paddling pool. Agabus nebulosus (#888) is a common pond beetle that frequents stagnant ponds and ditches. It is a strong flier, sometimes attracted to light, and often found as in this case in temporary pools and water troughs. Its spotted markings are quite distinctive.

Dingy Shears & Others

A few new species on the list this week. Most exciting thing was a Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) that stopped on the lavender for a while, but was too fast to get a decent photo. It was my first new butterfly species in three years. The hot weather early in the week certainly was good for butterflies. The Dingy Shears moth (Apterogenum ypsillon) appeared in the swimming pool and got fished out more or less unscathed - a species that so far didn’t get into my moth trap. Finally at least 2 meters high, I belatedly spotted a couple of Rosebay Willowherb plants (Chamaenerion angustifolium) that are established by the fence at the back of one of the borders.

#885 Dingy Shears (Apterogenum ypsillon)

#887 Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium)

Four-barred Major (Oxycera rara, #884)

Looking superficially like a squat, little hoverfly, this male soldier fly is new for the garden. It is supposed to be found in damp places and near ponds, so it’s fitting that I rescued it from the paddling pool, where it was probably trying to cool off.

Heatwave Moths Part II

Another warm and fine night for moths on Friday night, with 33 different spoecies caught, including five new ones for the list. Star of the show, for rarity value perhaps rather than looks, was a Waved Black (Parascotia fuliginaria), whose larvae live on rotten wood & fungi, and which is not often recording in Gliucestershire. Pale Prominent, looking much like a bunch of dead leaves was also a good catch.

#880 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina)

#881 Black Arches (Lymantria monacha)

#882 Maple Button (Acleris forsskaleana)

#883 Waved Black (Parascotia fuliginaria)

#879 Large Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#750 Oak Hook-tip (Watsonalla binaria)

#606 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

Speckled Bush Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)

This Speckled Bush Cricket nymph was perched up on the Golden Rod flowers. They are more active at night and around dusk than in full daytime (2.00 pm in this case), but this one didn’t seem bothered about being out in the sunshine.

Heatwave Moths

On Saturday morning I had a bumper haul of 90 moths of 35 different types in and around the moth trap, thanks to a still, warm and cloudy night. This included no fewer than nine Elephant Hawk-moths and three new species: Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata), Large Tabby (Aglossa pinguinalis) and Clay (Mythimna ferrago). Seems the good weather is here to stay for a while, so it looks good for more mothing this week. A few moths below including the Tabby, Clay and three types of Ermine moth.

#658 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

#877 Large Tabby (Aglossa pinguinalis)

#878 Clay (Mythimna ferrago) (right)

#790 Bird-cherry Ermine (Yponomeuta evonymella)

#635 "Apple" Ermine (Yponomeuta sp.)

#811 Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)

#639 Heterotoma planicornis

This bug with its distinctive large/flat antenna segment lives in low vegetation such as nettles and eats plant matter, but also small insects like mites and aphids. Heterotoma planicornis hatches in May and lives for one season, over-wintering as an egg. It is quite common all across England and has also been introduced to North America and New Zealand.

Moth Trapping Wednesday

As well as the hawk-moths I posted earlier, there was a good selection of other moths including Brown Rustic and Hook-streak Grass Veneer, both of which were new ones for my garden. In total 52 moths of 25 different species. Some of the highlights below…

#774 Garden Pebble (Evergestis forficalis)

#200 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#875 Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus)

#596 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)

#783 Miller (Acronicta leporina)

#611 Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi)

#731 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)

#873 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)

Fasciation in Feverfew

While looking at bugs I noticed that one of the Feverfew flowers (lower centre in the photo) is fasciated. This mutation, which in this case elongates the flower, can be genetic or caused by an insect-borne infection. While I have found a few other cases of similar mutations in Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) flowers on the internet, there’s no additional information on what causes this particular mutation.

Midsummer Hawk-moths

Three Elephant Hawk-moths in the moth trap and a fabulous Privet Hawk-moth on the fence nearby were the highlights from last night. Privet hawk-moth was a new species for the garden.

#872 Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

Azure Damselfly

I don’t get many dragonflies in the garden, so it’s always good to snap one - often a bit of a challenge using a phone. Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) is not so heavily tied to water as most species, so turns up here from time to time. This one is catching some evening sun on my potato plants.

There’s also a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) zipping around the garden this evening; another of the more regular dragonflies I get. But there’s not much hope of capturing that on my phone.

Varied Carpet Beetle

This one is doing no harm, looking for pollen on a flower, but the Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci, #871) is not something you want too much in your house. In the natural habitat the adults lay their eggs in birds nests and similar dry places with a supply of suitable food: animal and plant fibres, dead insects, dry druit, etc for the hatched larvae. In the house they can infest carpets, ventilation systems and cupboards storing food or clothes to the point they can do serious damage if not spotted first.

Field Poppy (Papaver rhoeas, #870)

This field poppy sprouted up on the edge of one of the borders, adding a nice splash of colour for a day or two. Mostly we get self-seeded yellow welsh poppies and ornamental “opium” poppies, so it was a change to find one of the traditional native red ones!

June Moths

The moth trap was quite well filled the other morning; moth numbers starting to build. The only new moth was a Clouded Brindle (Apamea epomidion), a single-generation moth that flies between May-July, and apparently does not come to light that frequently. Aside from this there was quite a nice selection of other moths, plus a shiny Whirligig Beetle (presumed Gyrinus substriatus). These beetles are usually found spinning around on the surface of ponds, but they do fly between water sources and can be attracted to light.

#868 Clouded Brindle (Apamea epomidion)

#247 Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha)

#763 Cypress Carpet (Thera cupressata)

#768 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)

#809 Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata)

#869 Whirligig Beetle (Gyrinus substriatus)

Dryad's Saddle

This large fungus was growing off a hidden tree root right in the middle of the path at my local nature reserve. It is a Dryad’s Saddle (Polyporus squamosus). The fruiting body of these fungi is always on the dead wood of a deciduous tree, either up a tree stump or growing out of a tree root just underground, like this one. They appears quite early in the season, in late spring to summer, but quickly decay and are eaten by fly larvae.