Moth Trapping 19 July pt 2

Here’s a mixed bag of other moths and insects caught last week. At this time there is a large variety of creatures on the wing at night.

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#292 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)

#733 Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#781 Small Blood-vein (Scopula imitaria)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#882 Maple Button (Acleris forsskaleana)

#950 V-Pug (Chloroclystis v-ata)

Moth Trapping 19 July

I’m still catching new species in my moth trap; here’s three from 19 July which I’ve just finally got time to post. Leptocerus tineiformis is a small caddisfly with very long antennae that is found around ponds. Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina) is usually rather greener than this individual; it flies in June-July and its food-plants are bilberry, honeysuckle and knot grass. Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella) is also single-brooded frequenting grassy areas and flying throughout the summer.

#1009 Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina)

#1010 Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella)

#1011 Leptocerus tineiformis

Purple Dead-nettle, Common Chickweed, Large-flowered Evening-primrose

Three new plants this week, Common Chickweed and Purple Dead-nettle are small enough that I have overlooked them among all the other weeds - though now I notice it I see that the chickweed is in a few places around the garden. At the other end of the scale the Evening Primrose is big enough - there’s a few of these around in different spots, but I’m not sure how they got there.

#1006 Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)

#1008 Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

#1007 Large-flowered Evening-primrose (Oenothera glazioviana)

Red Parasitic Mites on a Fly

At first I thought this fly, crawling about in the foliage, had a bright red abdomen. But on closer inspection you can see that it has multiple red mite larvae attached, presumably feeding off its body fluids. The mites seen as big as the host, so it looks like this fly is not going to get airborne.

"Teneral" Damselfly

I photographed this very confiding damselfly at Coombe Hill Nature Reserve last week\thinking with its muted colouring it must be a female. But checking it out, I realised it’s too blue to be a female blue or azure damselfly, and also the body is too pale. This indicates that it is actually a newishly emerged damselfly. In this case I think it’s a male Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans). These damselflies take a day or two to develop their adult colour.

Lime Nail Gall Mite (Eriophyes tiliae)

I spotted these growths all over the lower leaves of a nearby lime tree. They are made by microscopic Lime Nail Gall Mites (Eriophyes tiliae) which feed on the sap in the leaves while also injecting chemicals that cause the leaf-cells to multiply and enlarge, thus deforming the leaves. The mites over-winter in the tree bark, moving to the foliage in the Spring.

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.

#690 Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#872 Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

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.

#1003 Sycamore (Acronicta aceris)

#1004 Timothy Tortrix (Aphelia paleana)

#1005 Marsh Pearl (Anania perlucidalis)

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.

#1002 Limnephilus marmoratus

#822 Ichneumon Wasp - Ophion sp.

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.

#1001 Double-striped Tabby (Hypsopygia glaucinalis)

#691 Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)

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.

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#782 Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)

#609 Bramble Shoot Moth (Notocelia uddmanniana)

#633 Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella)

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.

#508 Broad Centurion (Chloromyia formosa)

#239 Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

#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.

#219 Small Magpie Moth (Anania hortulata)

#593 Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea)

#604 Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua)

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.

#587 Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae)

#700 Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata)

#782 Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)

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.

#996 Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)

#997 Shears (Hada plebeja)