Friday's Stars
/Three exotic-looking moths from the other day… it’s always a thrill to find beautiful creatures like these when you check the light trap in the morning.
Three New Moths
/I had a good haul of moths in and around the moth trap yesterday morning - the biggest catch of the year so far - which included these three new species.
The Sycamore is similar to the Poplar Grey, which seems more common round here - but prefers Sycamore and Field Maple trees, rather than Poplars and Aspens.
The Marsh Pearl or Fenland Pearl (Anania perlucidalis), told from the similar Mother of Pearl moth by the two dark dots on the wings, seems not that common in Gloucestershire, away from its main range in East Anglia.
Limnephilus marmoratus (#1002)
/A couple of non-moths in the moth trap yesterday, including a new caddisfly, Limnephilus marmoratus. This caddisfly, distinguishable by its boldly marked wings, lives around ponds and commonly comes to light. The Ophion ichneumon wasp (hard to identify to species level) is also nocturnal and commonly found in moth traps - this family of wasps are parasitoids of noctuid moths.
From the Thatch
/Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis) and yesterday’s other new moth, Double-striped Tabby (Hypsopygia glaucinalis), are closely related species both of whose larvae live in dry, dead vegetable matter, such as straw or birds nests. Given this, I suspect that they might originate from my neighbour’s thatched roof. Both species fly in July-August and are mostly found in Southern England.
1000 Species: Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria)
/This morning I achieved my “1000 species” goal from when I started this project back on 1st June 2018, with a brace of new moths. The first of these was a Large Emerald, which with a wingspan of 50-60 mm is our biggest UK all-green Emerald moth. It is a woodland species associated with birch and hazel with a single flight period peaking in July.
#1000 Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria)
Midsummer Moths
/Here’s a few more moths from the other night: my first Riband Waves of the season and this nicely green Green Pug. There are more micros now too, including my first grass moths and these two fruit tree species: Bramble Shoot Moth and Codling Moth - the former as you might guess eats bramble leaves, while the larvae of the latter grow inside the cores of apples and other hard fruit like quinces & pears.
Semaphore Fly & Broad Centurion
/A couple of colourful flies around the pond. The Broad Centurion was fished out of the pond - these seem to like to go into water, but don’t swim too well. This is a male with a green body and blue abdomen. Poecilobothrus nobilitatus is more at home around water, able to land on the surface and then take off again, rather than drown. This is also the male, as the female lacks the black and white wing-tips. It was a little camera shy, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a better photo sometime.
#999 Green Oak Tortrix (Tortrix viridana)
/This pretty, pea-green moth is a fairly common woodland species flying in May-July. With a preference for Oaks, though it will also lay eggs in other deciduous trees, its caterpillars feed from within a rolled up leaf. It can be a pest, sometimes completely defoliating trees. A new species for my garden it brings my total to 999.
Yellow-banded Longhorn (Nemophora degeerella)
/Not in the garden, I snapped this Yellow-banded Longhorn moth on Hogweed while walking in a local wood. It’s the male that has these insanely long antennae. This moth is quite common in woodland where it’s larvae live in leaf-litter.
Wall Daisy / Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus)
/For a non-native plant in UK, originally from Central America, it manages to survive very effectively on our boundary wall, spreading to the patio and any planters in the vicinity. It flowers all summer and is usually much loved by insects, especially the smaller hoverflies. The current cold, damp weather is making for a good show of flowers, but at present not such a good show of insects.
#44 Wall Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus)
Buddleia Downy Mildew (Peronospora hariotii, #998)
/The marks on the leaves of this Buddleia seedling, self-seeded by the side of our path, are a downy mildew caused by a fungus-like microorganism, Peronospora hariotii. This is one a large number of Pseudofungi that are highly specific to certain host plants. This one seems quite benign though it can be a problem in plant nurseries as it infects younger plants more than mature bushes. Other Peronospora, such as those effecting tobacco and brassicae, are a serious agricultural pest.
Small Magpie, Buff Ermine, Vine's Rustic
/A dry and still night, but too cold for many moths unfortunately. These three are species I didn’t post previously. The two Small Magpies I caught were the first of the season for this macro-sized micro moth. Small Magpie has a long flight season through to September, its food-plants are nettled & woundwort. Buff Ermine is another common moth (four in the trap this morning) flying from May-July; food-plant nettles, but also a variety of other herbaceous plants including birch & honeysuckle. Vine’s Rustic has 2 generations, one now and a larger one in the late summer when it is for a period one of the most numerous macros. It’s caterpillars eat plantains and docks.
Light Emerald, Cinnabar & Green Pug
/Three handsome, but quite different moths. Cinnabar Moth is very distinctive species, whose yellow & black striped caterpillars are found (often in numbers) on ragwort plants. Green Pug is a summer species which lays eggs in the blossom of fruit trees such as apple or pear, while Light emerald is a woodland moth found on various trees and hedgerow plants with two generations in Spring & Summer.
Plum Tortrix & Shears
/Not too many moths this morning, but two new species; neither of them particularly unusual, but both only have a relatively short flight season in May/June. Plus Tortrix is one of those orchard tortrix species that, at rest, look a bit like a bird poo. The Shears is named for the black mark on its wing that looks a bit like old-fashioned shears used for shearing sheep. Two new moth species and I’m closing in on my 1000 species target.
Gardener's Friend
/This very tame Robin is never far away when I’m tending my veg plot. It’s one of a pair that follow me about looking to see if I’ve grubbed up any good insects.
Foxglove Summer
/The weather has cooled right down and there are fewer butterflies and bugs around the garden, but flowers are doing well due to the wet Spring we’ve had. This year we have more Foxgloves than ever, which is really nice and much appreciated by the bumble bees.
Pond Visitors
/These are two insects that are found close to water, attracted to my new pond. Footballer hoverfly, so named due to its stripey football-kit colours lays its eggs in shallow pond margins. Large Red Damselfly is rarely found away from standing water, unlike some other damselflies. The latter, a new species for my garden, is one of the earliest dragonflies on the wing in Spring.
Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
/Silver Y is not a moth I catch very often, only once or twice a year. It has a long flight season from spring through the summer, flying at night, but also during daytime. It is an immigrant from Europe so numbers arriving here can vary. The wing vibrating on the video is done to warm the wing, ready to fly.
Silver Y moth
Thirsty Birds
/Setting up a trail-cam near the pond got a few nice pictures of birds coming in for a drink. I was hoping to film a hedgehog as I hadn’t seen ours yet this year, and I did get one shot but not nearby the camera - so that’s good news. This is one of our blackbirds and a house sparrow; both are nesting nearby.
Sunday Moths
/Here’s a selection of other moths caught on Sunday morning. Poplar Hawk-moth was the first hawk-moth of the year; the others also firsts for the year as spring moves into summer.
