Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars

These stripey Cinnabar Moth caterpillars were on a Ragwort by the roadside just near my house. The moths are a bold red & black colour, but the caterpillars, which are often found like here in large groups, come in yellow & black stripes.

Ragwort contains toxic alkaloids which are unappetising (and in high doses even potentially dangerous) to grazing animals, however the moth caterpillars are able to sequester these toxins which affords them protection from insectivores. Black ants were also present, which are often associated with aphids, a few of which were also present. The ants can attack the caterpillars, presumably when they are small, to protect the plant for the aphids, which they then farm.

Ermine Moths

Ermine moths are common summer moths, so I thought it would be nice to look at three of them I caught at the weekend.

Often a pest on fruit trees their caterpillars are protected by a cocoon like a silken web around the leaves of the tree - in this case apple or bird-cherry. The Apple Ermine is pretty much identical in appearance to the Orchard Ermine (found on blackthorn, hawthorn or cherry) and the Spindle Ermine (Spindle tree). I put them down as Apple Ermines as I definitely have this species caterpillars on my apple tree. Bird-cherry Ermine does look a little different with neat lines of black spots. The third species is a Thistle Ermine, which is a bit bigger and actually though it looks similar, not from the same family - as the name suggests its caterpillars are found on thistles, but not in the same kind of silk web.

#790 Bird-cherry Ermine (Yponomeuta evonymella)

#811 Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)

#635 Apple Ermine (Yponomeuta malinellus)

Eustalomyia festiva (#944)

This boldly patterned black & grey fly is a from a family known as root maggot flies. Some species do have larvae that eat vegetable roots, but this one is believed to be a klepto-parasite laying its eggs in the nests of mason wasps, where they feed upon the larder the wasp leaves for its own young.

V-Pug & Dusky Pearl

I managed to unpack the moth trap before the rain started this morning and picked up a couple of new moths. The V-Pug is a fairly common species, with two generations in spring and then summer. It gets its name from the black “v”s on the wings. Dusky Pearl is a one-generation June/July micro with a preference for blackthorns

#950 V-Pug (Chloroclystis v-ata)

#951 Dusky Pearl (Udea prunalis)

Hedgehog in the Shed

Tidying out the my rather run-down shed, I found a pile of leaves & twigs in the corner under a cupboard. After starting to rake them out an unhappy hedgehog emerged, so I put the nest back and hoped I hadn’t driven it away. And yes, photos on the trailcam show it is still there. We’ll put out some cat food for it periodically, so hopefully it sticks around.

Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina, #949)

This Leopard Moth was hiding somewhere in a bunch of stuff I’d put outside to take to the tip. Leopard Moths are a one-generation summer moth, its caterpillars feed on leaves of a variety of different trees & bushes. I’m not sure if this one got a bit squashed when I was moving the rubbish around, or if was just playing dead.

#949 Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina)

Volucella inanis (#681)

This sturdy-looking hoverfly lays its eggs near the a wasps nest, where its larvae enter the nest ultimately eating a wasp larva before re-emerging as an adult. It looks a bit hornet like. This one was on a wall where we have a few mason bees and wasps, but it is a male (eyes join on the forehead) so probably was getting some sun rather than being on the look-out for somewhere to lay its eggs.

Wild Pansy (Viola Tricolor, #946)

Pushing up in a neglected corner, this Wild Pansy has definitely self-seeded itself from somewhere. It’s not a species I’d recorded previously in the garden,

#946 Wild Pansy (Viola Tricolor)

Varied Coronet & Short-cloaked Moth

Less moths this weekend, probably as there was a bit of a breeze, but there were a couple of smart new June/July flying species, as well as the Privet Hawk-moth posted previously.

The first of these, is a Varied Coronet (Hadena compta, #947). This is a relatively new species to the UK, unknown here until the 1940’s since when it has expanded its range across Southern England, but it is still not very common in Gloucestershire. Its caterpillars eat the seeds of Sweet William and Bladder Campion flowers.

The second new species is the Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella,948), which is a more frequently trapped species. Its larval food-plants include blackthorn, hawthorn and apple.

Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) and Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana) are both species which hide in plain sight during the day looking a bit like a bird dropping, to hopefully avoid being eaten.

#947 Varied Coronet (Hadena compta)

#948 Short-cloaked Moth (Nola cucullatella)

#876 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata)

#779 Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana)

Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

This weekend’s spectacular hawkmoth is this very fine Privet Hawkmoth. The UK’s largest resident hawkmoth, it flies in June/July. It’s caterpillars feed on Privet, Lilac, Holly or Ash.

#872 Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

Small Insects attracted to Light

Especially in the summer moths, there are often a lot of small insects in the light trap along with the moths. Sadly these are mostly quite short-lived insects and are often dead or dying when you check the trap in the morning.

Water Veneer moths live only a couple of days. In June/July the winged males gather in large swarms to mate and are drawn to light. Females come in winged and flightless forms. These moths are aquatic, the males and flightless females mate at thew water’s surface, while the larvae live in slow-moving water where they feed on pond weed. the moths do fly quite far from water, so despite being quite far from any large pond or river I still caught 35 individuals at the weekend. The waterboatmen and long-horned caddisflies are also aquatic species that venture quite far from water and are attracted to light. The two caddisflies are both long-horned, which has a morph with patterned wings and a rarer one with plain ones.

The leaf-hoppers, close relatives of grasshoppers, are from closer afield in the nearby trees. There are a lot of similar looking leaf-hopper species and I was unable to find a good match in order to identify them. As well as these there were a few aphids and midges found their way into the trap.

#675 Water Veneer (Acentria ephemerella)

Waterboatman sp.

#618 Long-horned Caddisfly (Mystacides longicornis)

Leaf-hopper sp.

Strawberry Seed Beetle (Harpalus rufipes)

This medium-sized ground beetle is distinguished by it’s red-coloured legs and antennae and the yellowish hairs covering its back giving the wing-covers a dull appearance. It is quite a common beetle found under stones, logs, etc. This one was on the top of my moth trap, but I’m not sure if was attracted to light or just exploring.

#943 Strawberry Seed Beetle (Harpalus rufipes)

Midsummer Moths

Four new moths in and around the trap on Sunday morning out of a total of 40 species, showing that there’s still plenty of new ones to catch - especially at this time of the year. All of these fly in a single generation in the summer.

Maiden’s Blush is a species favouring Oak woodlands, while Small Emerald is quite restricted in range on the chalk/limestone areas of southern England where its larval food-plant is Traveller’s Joy (Clematis vitalba). Blue-bordered Carpet and Common Groundling are fairly common and widespread in England, food-plants are Hawthorn & Blackthorn.

#939 Maiden's Blush (Cyclophora punctaria)

#940 Small Emerald (Hemistola chrysoprasaria)

#941 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)

#942 Common Groundling (Teleiodes vulgella)

Pink Elephants

One of each species of Elephant Hawk-moth in the trap this morning. Always a very welcome catch.

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#600 Small Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus)

Fox & Cubs

One of my favourite weeds, which I’m more than happy to have in the lawn, with orange flowers and hairy leaves Orange Hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca) is not actually native to UK (it is a long-time import from Europe). It is commonly called Fox & Cubs, due to its orange colour, but has a host of other country names including Devils Paintbrush and Golden Mouse-ear.

Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis (#938)

I snapped this mason wasp exploring a hole in the limestone wall. These wasps cache caterpillars in holes in wood or masonry for their caterpillars to eat once their eggs hatch. Usually several cells are created with earth walls between each compartment, each cell containing an egg and food for the growing wasp larva. There are several species of very similar wasps, but I believe this one is Ancistrocerus nigricornis, which is one of the commoner ones, often using bug hotels.

Mealy Plum Aphid (Hyalopterus pruni)

It seems like 2023 is a bumper year for aphids. Nearly all the trees and bushes in the garden are covered in aphids and sticky with honeydew. This time the plum tree is heavily infested with Mealy Plum Aphids; another new species for the list as I didn’t record these before. Hopefully it will also be a bumper year for things that preys on aphids too, like ladybirds. The blue tits from our nest box are trying, but struggling, to keep on top of the problem.

#933 Mealy Plum Aphid (Hyalopterus pruni)

First Big Moth Catch of the Year

A lot of moths today, 95 individuals of 35 species, including lots of waves, pugs, grass moths and other micros to sort out (which took me a while). Amongst it all, three new species taking my garden count to 936.

#613 Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata)

#81 Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha dominula)

#757 Foxglove Pug (Eupithecia pulchellata)

#762 Freyer's Pug (Eupithecia intricata)

#782 Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)

#934 Dwarf Cream Wave (Idaea fuscovenosa)

#935 Ringed China-mark (Parapoynx stratiotata)

#936 Parachronistis albiceps

Click Beetle, Melanotus castanipes/villosus (#937)

I found this beetle when checking the moth trap this morning, under the trap actually, so I doubt it was attracted to light. It’s a click beetle, doing its thing of pinging itself up in the air with a load click when stressed. This all-black one is I think Melanotus castanipes or the very similar M. villosus. It’s a first for the garden and my second click beetle species.

Hawthorn Shield Bug

My first Shield Bug of the year flew in and landed on the window. Hawthorn Shieldbug, with its pointy shoulders, is a colourful and common bug in deciduous trees. They over-winter as adults and appear each Spring with a new generation appearing in August/September. I usually see a few each summer.

#427 Hawthorn Shield Bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)