The Autumn Shift

There’s a change-around in the moths with some autumn species coming to the fore, though there are still plenty of Large Yellow Underwings to catch. Beaded Chestnut and Lunar Underwing both fly in September-October, as does the Deep-brown Dart, a new not-so-common moth for the list. Whereas the Chestnut can appear any time during the winter from October onwards.

Tipula confusa & Nebria salina

Tipula confusa is an autumn flying crane fly with distinctively marked wings. It’s a good season for crane flies right now, resting up around the garden in the morning. The ground beetle Nebria salina was a new species for the garden. Found in dry habitats, the combination of leg/antenna colour and shape of pronuptum indicates this species.

Frosted Orange & Red Underwing

Two very smart new moths in the trap this morning, among the other moths, which included now fewer than 37 Large Yellow Underwings. The caterpillars of Frosted Orange (#909) live inside the stems of plants such as thistle and foxglove. Red Underwing (#908) with a 7cm wingspan is one of UK’s larger moths, with a bright red underwing when its wings are open. Its larval food-plants are poplar and willow.

Harvest Moon Moths

With a near-full moon it wasn’t the best night for catching moths, but at least there was no rain - just heavy dew. A small haul of common moths (28 individuals or 12 species), with only the non-native Box-tree moth (an accidental import from SE Asia) adding a touch of the exotic.

September 1st Moths

It starts to get colder overnight, and there are fewer moths, especially fewer small moths, and less variety. More interesting moths today included a Chinese Character on the window by the trap and a Burnished Brass.

Misc Insects: 29 August

A few insects around the garden today. Some like the Red-legged Shieldbug and lacewing Hemerobius lutescens (a new species, #907) were attracted by the moth trap. The large Tegenaria spider was found in the trap having killed and consumed four moths. The Oak Bush Cricket was found in the paddling pool.

Back from Holiday

After a 2-week break there are some different moths around. New species today were Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon) and Brindled Flat-body (Agonopterix arenella). The former is a migrant species that does not survive winter in UK; today I caught three of them. Orange Swift and Copper Underwing were the first of the year.

Locust Blow Fly (Stomorhina lunata,903)

I photographed this fly feeding on mint flowers in the garden. With the yellow/black bands on the abdomen and boldly striped thorax, I believe it is Locust Blow Fly (Stomorhina lunata). This species is a visitor from the continent, where it is a predator of the egg pods of locusts (but ,they think, it doesn’t predate any UK grasshopper species). Not sure about its status in Gloucestershire, but although once rare in UK this fly has been turning up more frequently in recent years.

900 Species in Low-key Style

Would have been nice to reach 900 with something spectacular, but the new moths today were Dingy Footman, looking like a large sunflower seed, and (an even dingier) Rusty-dot Pearl. Magpie Moth and Lesser Swallow Prominent were more handsome catches amongst 100+ moths of 42 species caught.

Summer of Butterflies

In terms of numbers and diversity of species it has been a good summer for butterflies in the garden, with ten different species last week and nine both of the previous two weeks. The flowering period seemed short for some insect-friendly flowers, especially the Golden Rod, but the Lavender and. more recently. Buddleia have been pulling them in. Large & Small White, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown and Red Admiral are around most days, with a smattering of Small Tortoiseshells, Green-veined Whites, Peacocks, Commas, Ringlets & Gatekeepers. Less usual drop-ins have included Small Skipper and Common Blue. The main species not present yet are Painted Lady and Speckled Wood, which some years have been fairly common, but not so (at least here) this year..

=176 Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

This week's Beetles / Bugs

So far this year I haven’t had many bugs, for instance shield bugs seem in short supply, but here are three bugs & beetles from the last few days. The Red Soldier Beetle was fished out of the swimming pool, looking a bit the worse for wear; it’s only maybe the third I’ve recorded though it’s common enough in the surrounding countryside. The small & stripey Pea Leaf Weevil dropped onto my dinner plate one evening Mirid bug, Liocoris tripustulatus, is also small and easily overlooked, but present; especially where I left a clumps of stinging nettles.

Common Backswimmer (Notonecta glauca)

The kids caught this monster in the swimming pool - a Common Backswimmer (Notonecta glauca, #898). About 1.5 cm long, this is a predator of aquatic insects and even sometimes tadpoles. It can even give anyone handling it a bit of a nip too. This one must have been flying around in search of a new pond. It’s a similar-looking bug, but a lot larger and more impressive than the water boatmen who occasionally wind up in my moth trap.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.