Jubilee Moths

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It looks like it might be a bit wet for the rest of the weekend, but last night was dry and there were a few moths in the trap this morning. Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria) was a new species, while this Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) was a well marked individual. Nothing red, white & blue though!

Scarlet Tigers

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There are many Scarlet Tiger moths (Callimorpha dominula) around at the moment, flying around in the late afternoon and evening, or resting up during the day. They are so numerous here, that it’s surprising to see that their distribution in UK is rather restricted to the south and west of the country. The caterpillars like Comfrey, but I also find them on the Green Alkanet in the garden.

There were 8 or so Scarlet Tigers around the moth trap the other morning, plus a few other species like this Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) and a bunch of “micro” moths, including an Ermine (Yponomeuta sp. several species are too similar to ID in the field), Grey Tortrix (Cnephasia sp. ditto), Bramble Shoot Moth (Notocelia uddmanniana) and Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella). Codling Moth is a nuisance in orchards, as its larvae tunnel into the core of the apple, leaving a “maggoty apple” with a dirty brown tunnel through the fruit.