A New Gnat

Moths are getting a bit thin on the ground, but normally I’s expect more than just a single Light Brown Apple Moth by the trap in the morning. There were a lot of gnats attracted to the light thpough, including Winter Gnats and a Sylvicola species, which I believe is Window Gnat. The latter turns out to be a new species for the garden, as previously I only noticed Clear-tipped Window Gnat (Sylvicola punctatus), whereas last night’s has grey wing-tips if you look close enough. This is a common species though, that can be found all year round.

#1016 Window Gnat (Sylvicola fenestralis)

#383 Winter Gnat (Trichocera annulata)

#317 Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

Oleander Hawk-moth Caterpillar

Back from a short trip to Frejus in the South of France, where I came across this magnificent caterpillar in the garden. Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) caterpillars start out green, then morph to this orange/black form, before pupating, then turning into a particularly spectacular hawk moth. There is a ton of Oleander (Laurier Rose) in the garden and this was disturbed by pruning. The leaves of Oleander are poisonous, but these caterpillars can consume it okay. Adult Oleander Hawk-moths are rare Autumn vagrants to the UK and the larvae are not recorded here. The French name for the moth is Le Sphinx du Laurier-rose.

Frosted Orange, Blair's Should Knot & Pale Mottled Willow

As we had a nice dry night on Friday, I was able to put out the moth trap. I caught nine species, including this trio - all of them fairly typical for the time of year. Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) flies during Aug-Sept, it’s larvae live inside the stems of thistle plants. Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri) is found around Cypress trees and flies a bit later - Oct-Nov. It is a non-native species first recorded in UK in 1951, but now widespread in gardens across most of England. Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis) flies from July-September; its larvae are found on grain of cereal crops, including those that have been harvested.

#909 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago)

#970 Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)

These moths rest with their wings rolled up so they look at first glance like craneflies/ Disturbed while I was gardening at the weekend, this is a Common Plume. They can be found all year round, but Autumn seems when they are most plentiful. The larval food-plant for this species is Bindweed.

Blunderwings

Out of 38 moths this morning, 19 were Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) - fairly typical for the season. These are common Autumn moths, colloquially known as “blunderwings” as they fly off clumsily when disturbed from their daytime resting spots. The sandy-coloured Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) is a similar size also with a yellow hind-wing, but this time with a broader black band around the margin. Of the other moths in and around the moth trap nine were Setaceous Hebrew Character  (Xestia c-nigrum).

Moth trapping: End of August

These are from last weekend - it’s been a busy week. Quite a varied catch of fairly typical late summer moths. Elbow-striped Grass Veneer or Chevron Grass-moth as it seems to be called too, is a grassland species I don’t catch every year. A shiny Burnished Brass and a couple of Nutmegs were nice seasonal catches.

#336 Elbow-stripe Grass Veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

#286 Common Grass Veneer (Agriphila tristella)

#788 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)

#625 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

#223 Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda)

#671 Nutmeg (Anarta trifolii)

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa, #739)

This nicely marked Angle Shades moth was resting up in the greenhouse. Angle Shades moths fly throughout the summer from May-October, with the population supplemented by migrants from the continent. The caterpillars eat a variety of plants including nettles, docks and brambles.

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

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)

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)

#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.

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)

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