Ermine Moths

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Ermine moths are common summer moths, so I thought it would be nice to look at three of them I caught at the weekend.

Often a pest on fruit trees their caterpillars are protected by a cocoon like a silken web around the leaves of the tree - in this case apple or bird-cherry. The Apple Ermine is pretty much identical in appearance to the Orchard Ermine (found on blackthorn, hawthorn or cherry) and the Spindle Ermine (Spindle tree). I put them down as Apple Ermines as I definitely have this species caterpillars on my apple tree. Bird-cherry Ermine does look a little different with neat lines of black spots. The third species is a Thistle Ermine, which is a bit bigger and actually though it looks similar, not from the same family - as the name suggests its caterpillars are found on thistles, but not in the same kind of silk web.

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.