Cockchafers & Moths

It’s always nice to catch cockchafer beetles; two in the moth trap this morning. Not a big catch of moths again, but several species caught for the fist time this year, as the season moves on.

#526 Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)

#611 Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi)

#659 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta)

#673 Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius)

#676 Coronet (Craniophora ligustri)

#749 Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata)

Raspberry Yellow Rust (Phragmidium rubi-idaei)

The yellow/orange spots on many of the lower leaves of my raspberry plants are from a fungus called Raspberry Yellow Rust (species #924). This is not something I’ve seen before in the garden, but it thrives in wet conditions, as we have had for most of this Spring. The pustules appear on the leaves in the spring and slowly darken over the summer. Apparently it’s harmless and won’t reduce the raspberry crop, so that’s good news.

#924 Raspberry Yellow Rust (Phragmidium rubi-idaei)

Mid-May Moths

A few more moths this weekend, but not yet a big catch. Puss Moth is always a welcome visitor, and this is only my second Silver Cloud, which is a local specialty only really found along the Severn Valley in UK, for some reason. Female Muslin Moths are white and often found flying in the daytime, while the males and dark like this one and strictly nocturnal. Meanwhile the last moth is a rather beaten-up looking Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata), actually my first of this springtime species.

#746 Puss Moth (Cerura vinula)

#855 Silver Cloud (Egira conspicillaris)

#745 Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica)

#923 Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata)

Hazelnut Weevil (Curculio nucum, #922)

We found these larvae in hazel nuts from last autumn. The weevils lay their eggs in the growing nut, then normally after a few weeks when they have eaten the nut kernel the larvae burrow out (see the exit hole in the nut shell), and relocate to the ground beneath the tree where they remain as pupae until the next spring when they emerge as beetles. In several cases there were live larvae in this batch of dried out nuts; their normal lifecycle presumably interrupted by our harvesting & storing the nuts.

#922 Hazelnut Weevil (Curculio nucum)

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

I have been expecting to find this plant, as it’s pretty common around the area, but until now not located in my garden. Garlic Mustard, or Jack-by-the-Hedge as it is sometimes called, is a tall member of the brassica family with white flowers that appear in April/May and leaves that have a hint of garlic when you crush them. You can eat the young tender leaves in a salad and the roots apparently have a horseradish flavour. From a gardening point of view it can be a very invasive plant, so probably I should pull it out, but it is a handsome plant and also the food-plant for Green-veined White butterflies there’s no rush …

#921 Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Not Exactly Brimming

A dry, calm night over the weekend was not enough to get the moths flying. Only 10 moths of 7 species caught, including these two favourites. Getting impatient, but it’s still early in the season, especially this year where Spring is quite cool.

#741 Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)

#606 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

House Mouse (Mus musculus)

Usually the mice here are Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), but this time the cat brought in a House Mouse, which is greyer, less pale underneath and has a fatter, scalier tail. Happily there’s no evidence of them actually in the house, but not a big surprise to have them around the garden. Now we’ve recorded 3 species of mouse.

New Plants in the Alley

Found a couple of new plants along the alley leading to the house. There are a couple of patches of White Stonecrop growing between the stones of the limestone wall. Meanwhile at the base of the wall by the path, these are the first Ground Ivy (sometimes called Creeping Charlie!) plants I have noticed.

#918 Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

#919 White Stonecrop (Sedum album)

Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis, #917)

This Least Black Arches moth turned up in my son’s bedroom. It’s a fairly common, small moth in UK, Its caterpillars feed on lime and evergreen oak trees, while the adults fly in May-June.

#917 Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis)

Californian Maple Aphid (Periphyllus californiensis)

Spotting my regular pair of long-tailed tits feeding on a small Japanese Maple, I thought it worth checking what they were going after. It turned out to be a pretty heavy infestation of honey-dew secreting aphids; in this case Californian Maple Aphids (Periphyllus californiensis). These are not native to UK, as you might guess from the name, though in fact they come originally from East Asia rather than the USA, but have now spread more or less globally wherever ornamental garden maples are grown.

#916 Californian Maple Aphid (Periphyllus californiensis)

#915 The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

After a wet March and being away over Easter, I finally put the moth trap out for the first time this year. Catches included my first Satellite (Eupsilia transversa, #915). This moth over-winters as an adult and can be caught right through the winter when the weather is mild, up until April. Sometimes the spot on the wing is white, rather than orange like in this case. Apart from Common & Small Quakers and several Clouded Drabs, the more interesting catches were a handsome Streamer, a (rather early) Scorched Carpet and this fine Black Sexton Beetle.

#915 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

#809 Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata)

#839 Streamer (Anticlea derivata)

#733 Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator)

Holly Leaf-miner (Phytomyza ilicis, #914)

My first new species for a while, mainly due to my being busy and not spending enough time outside. This leaf mine contains the larva of a small fly, Phytomyza ilicis; the only UK leaf mine found on European Holly.

#914 Holly Leaf-miner (Phytomyza ilicis)

The first Mining Bees

Still a bit drowsy (and easier to photograph), due to the cooler temperature, but the first mining bees are out and about in the village. These are male Yellow-legged Mining Bees (Andrena flavipes) which live in a large colony on a south facing bank by the road. These bees have two generations, one in early spring and a second in the summer. They are quite widely distributed in the southern half of England.

#309 Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes)

Coming out of Hibernation

It’s not that warm, but warm enough in the sun for these two signs of spring. A very early Red Admiral catching some rays on the fence today. It’s not normally a species I see early in the year. Usually Brimstone or Small Tortoiseshell are first to put in an appearance, towards the end of Marc; so I’m not sure what this one was doing out and about today. The Brown-spot Flatbody moth is also quite early, but a few do come out in the early spring with a larger second generation in the summer. This one was disturbed while I was doing some gardening yesterday. I also saw the first bumble bees of the year this week.

#155 Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

#325 Brown-spot Flatbody (Agonopterix alstromeriana)

Box Tree Moth

This Box Tree Moth was the only moth that came to light this weekend. While a did manage to find a night with no rain, it was pretty windy, so combine that with the season and there wasn’t much about. Yesterday (Halloween) during a sunny spell I saw Rad Admiral butterfly and a Common Darter dragonfly in the garden; maybe the last of the year. To mark the coming winter the first fieldfares flew over and at night Tawny Owls are making a lot of noise.

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.

#707 Beaded Chestnut (Agrochola lychnidis)

#913 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)

#912 Deep-brown Dart (Aporophyla lutulenta)

#685 Lunar Underwing (Omphaloscelis lunosa)

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.

#364 Tipula confusa

#910 Nebria salina

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.

#909 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago)

#908 Red Underwing (Catocala nupta)

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.

#595 Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

#594 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

#825 Box-tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis)

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.

#876 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata)

#788 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#761 Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi)