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.
Three New Moths
/A varied selection of moths this morning, with surprisingly three new species. All three of these moths fly only for one season, during May/June. The Lychnis is named after the latin name of its food plant, Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria). Campions are also the food-plant of Sandy Carpet, while the larvae of Rustic Shoulder-knot feed on grasses.
300 Moths
/I’m getting quite close to my 1000 species target, but on the way recorded my 300th moth this weekend, adding May Highflyer, Grass Rivulet and Oak Knot-horn.
Grass Rivulet is a species of open grassland, it’s larval food-plant being Yellow Rattle. I do have that in my mini wildflower meadow; which as it’s only about 2 square metres maybe shows that every little really does help! Oak Knot-horn is a micro usually associated with Oak trees; it’s a common enough species, but usually flies in June-July.
Flying Carpet Moths
/Lots of carpet moths on Sunday morning, including different forms of Common Marbled Carpet (Dysstroma truncata) and one new species, May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata, #988). May Highflyer has one generation flying from May-June and is usually around Alders - a tree I do not have nearby, to my knowledge. The white bar across the centre of the wings helps identify this species from other carpet moths.
Chocolate Tip (Clostera curtula, #986)
/As a new species for the garden, Chocolate Tip moth (Clostera curtula) was the highlight, but there were also some other beautiful moths in and around the trap this morning. With some warmer weather we were up to 20 types of moth today. In England, Chocolate Tip has two generations, one now and another in Aug/Sept; it is a woodland species preferring Poplar, Aspen & Sallows. It’s not rare, but seems less frequently encountered than the other moths caught today.
#985 Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli)
/The small collection of moths in the moth trap this morning, included this Nut-tree Tussock Moth, which is a new species for my list. This moth’s food-plants are trees such as hazel and beech. It flies in 2 generations, in April-June and July-September.
Other moths included four Sliver Cloud moths, which are a local speciality with a small range in UK centred on the Severn & Wye valleys, and a few other typical Spring fliers.
Pinion-spotted Pug (Eupithecia insigniata)
/Finally, the first outing this your for my moth trap. The star of the show was a Pinion-spotted Pug (Eupithecia insigniata, #982), top left. This is not a common moth, usually only a few caught per year in Glos, so the most unusual moth I’ve caught in a while and a great start for the year. Otherwise there were not many moths flying, but a Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac) is always welcome. The small grey cranefly, maybe a Monophilus species, was likely a new species, but not sure if I’ll ever confirm any ID for it.
The Sprawler (Asteroscopus sphinx, #975)
/Only two moths came to the light yesterday; probably one of last times my moth trap will be out this year. A lone Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) in the trap and a Sprawler (Asteroscopus sphinx) - a new species for me - on the wall nearby. The Sprawler is a late-flying moth, on the wing from October to December, but peaking around now. It’s a woodland species whose caterpillars rears up its spiny head when threatened, giving the moth its name.
Leaf-mines on Corkscrew Willow
/The first two leaf-mines are from the larvae of a Sallow Pygmy moth (Stigmella salicis, #973). These moths have two generations in the Spring and Summer and the twisting mines from the second generation are seen right through to November. The mine doubles back to create a blotch and the frass makes a broken line in the centre of the mine.
The second pair of mines are from the larvae of a weevil Isochnus sequensi (#680), which leaves these dark, blotchy mines. The larva by the second mine is that of a Syrphus hoverfly, which is a predator mostly of aphids and but also other insects.
Leylandii: What is it Good For?
/Well, it turns out that my neighbour’s not very attractive (IMO) non-native Thuja hedge is good for these two non-native Mediterranean moths! Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri, #763) was first observed in UK in 1951 and is now established over most of lowland UK. It flies in one generation Sept-Nov; this being the first one I’ve recorded. Cypress Carpet (Thera cupressata) arrived in 1984 and so far its main range in UK only extends as far North as Birmingham. If has two generations, one in May-June and another in August-September.
Ashy Button (Acleris sparsana, #967)
/A bit drab, but Ashy Button (Acleris sparsana) was another new species for the garden trapped this weekend. Not a big surprise to record this as it likes Beech trees, of which there is a large one nearby in next-door’s garden. Another micro in the trap, actually a few times lately, was Garden Rose Tortrix (Acleris variegana) - another species which didn’t need to travel far from its plant host.
October Moths: White-point (Mythimna albipuncta, #966)
/There are less moths, but this weekend some new species and a bit more variety. White-point was a new one for the garden. Flying in the Autumn, it’s an immigrant from the continent caught mainly in the South-East of England, that may have started establishing a resident population - not a bad catch for Gloucestershire. Superficially similar the Satellite has a different shaped while spot on its wings. This moth can be caught throughout the Autumn & Winter, from September until April. Deep-brown Dart and Black Rustic are both autumn species, typical for this period.
Lunar Underwing
/This is one of the commonest Autumn finds in the moth trap. Flying from August to October, it comes in different forms: most commonly (here at least) a dark form with pale veins over the wings, and a paler sandy-coloured form where the veins don’t show so much, but you get black spots towards the tips of the wings instead.
Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata, #965)
/After a few wet and windy weekends I was able to put out the moth trap on Friday night. The catch of moths was right down from early September, but there are some Autumn-flying species around. This moth, Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata), is one such species, flying in Sept-Oct, hibernating as an adult, then flying again in early Spring. With its cryptic green colours, it’s a handsome moth and a new species for the garden.
Knot Grass Caterpillar
/This brightly coloured hairy caterpillar was munching some plantain at the allotment. It’s a the caterpillar of a Knot Grass moth (Acronicta rumicis), a grassland species which I have caught in the garden.
Box-tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis)
/The Box Tree moths I have caught previously have been an elegant white with black margins around the wings, so this one had me a bit confused, even though its shape is pretty unique. But yes, Box Tree Moths do also have a dark morph. This one came into the house the other evening.
Cypress Pug (Eupithecia phoeniceata, #961)
/Cypress Pug is a new species for my garden; seemingly not that common in Gloucestershire. It is a non-native moth, first found in UK in Cornwall in 1959, which has since spread across southern England and up to the Midlands. It lives on (also non-native) Cypress trees.
Other nice moths today included this Canary-shouldered Thorn - very fluffy, several Centre-barred Sallows and another Old Lady moth.
Old Lady (Mormo maura, #960)
/I caught a couple of these in the moth trap at the weekend. Old Lady moths don’t often come to light, but were probably attracted by rotting figs and grapes courtesy of my neighbours’ fruit trees, and found the moth trap a comfortable place to hide up for the day. These are quite big moths, around 6 cm wingspan, that fly for one generation in July-August.
#960 Old Lady (Mormo maura)
More July Moths
/I posted some of the “macro” moths earlier - here are some of the smaller moths, including a few new species.
July Moths
/Caught a really great selection of beautiful moths during the week, when we got our first dry and wind-free night for a while. There are a lots of different species flying at the moment, so here’s a selection of the 40 different species caught.(Second post with some micros to follow).
