Poplar Hawkmoth

Reasons to be happy this week. The moth trap delivered its highest count of the year, well into double figures at 15 specimens of 12 species. Modest by most peoples standards but given that my last two attempts had delivered two and zero, I was well pleased. Even better we had our first garden Hawkmoth, although I have to confess I missed it completely with Sue finding it late morning whilst dead heading the pansies a couple of metres from where the trap was set. 

Poplar Hawkmoth - Laothoe populi

Brindled Pug was a new moth for me along with the micro Platyedra subcinerea, common name Mallow Crest or Cotton Stem Moth.

Brindled Pug - Eupithecia abbreviata  It's an Oak-tree Pug

Platyedra subcinerea

Others were repeats but still welcome and it was just nice to have something to photograph and record for a change.

Flame Shoulder - Ochropleura plecta

Garden Carpet - Xanthorhoe fluctuata

Hart and Dart - Agrotis exclamationis 

Narrow-winged Grey - Eudonia angustea

Rusty-dot Pearl - Udea ferrugalis

There were multiples of Shuttle-shaped Dart, three, and Ruddy Streak, two. It was good to get one of the specimens of the former in such good condition.

Shuttle-shaped Dart - Agrotis puta puta

Ruddy Streak - Tachystola acroxantha

Brimstone Moth - Opisthograptis luteolata

My first Dagger of the year was also in the trap. I found Grey Dagger caterpillars in the garden last year but short of dissecting this moth, which I don't do, I cannot tell if it is a Grey or Dark Dagger.

Dagger agg.- Acronicta agg

Also in near mint condition this Toadflax Brocade. The last one of these I had, looked to be in good condition, but it was very difficult to make out the patterns on the wings.

Toadflax Brocade - Calophasia lunula

I also had difficulty seeing any pattern in this Early Grey. Surprising really when it has been the most common moth in the trap so far this year.

Early Grey - Xylocampa areola

Early Grey - Xylocampa areola

The Muslin Moth is a female, found whilst out looking for butterflies on Kithurst Hill a couple of weeks ago.

Muslin Moth - Diaphora mendica

Also a Caterpillar found in the garden which looks to be a Marbled Green.

Marbled Green Caterpillar - Cryphia muralis

You wait ages to get a decent haul of moths in the trap and then you realise how long it takes to identify and record them all. I am always envious of the people that report three or four hundred but I think, until I get more experience, I will be happy sticking with the low numbers.
 

More from the Moth Trap

As promised, a few more from the moth trap. 

Best find this week was this Toadflax Brocade. I spent hours trying to identify it but in the end gave up and put it on Twitter with the tag MothIDUK. The answer came back in fifteen minutes. Now I have a name and thus a picture to look at, I can see the pattern in the markings but I don't think I would have made the connection without help.

Toadflax Brocade - Calophasia lunula

Most common moth on the last session was the Marbled Beauty. As with the Marbled Green from the last blog the larval food plants are lichens. There is a lot of older housing stock in the area but I haven't noticed that much lichen growth on them. Will have to look around, there must be something attracting them to the area.

Like the Marbled Green they come in a variety of shades.

Marbled Beauty - Cryphia domestica

Marbled Beauty - Cryphia domestica

Another common moth in the trap and more often on the walls around the trap is the Lime-speck Pug. One of the easier ones to identify.

Lime-speck Pug - Eupithecia centaureata

And two more, the Maidens Blush and the Pebble Hook-tip that are not too challenging on the identification front.

Maiden's Blush - Cyclophora punctaria

Pebble Hook-tip - Drepana falcataria

The Nutmeg moth initially looked challenging but the white line at the end of the wing is the key to identification. The line shows a large and clear W on both wings. Other moths have this W marking but with the exception of the Dusky Brocade seem easy to eliminate.

Nutmeg - Discestra trifoli

The Orange Swift is my first from the Hepialidae family. There are over five hundred species worldwide but only five in the British Isles.

Orange Swift - Hepialus sylvina

I had a bit more of a problem with the next one. I couldn't really find anything that looked exactly like the moth in the photograph. Using a process of elimination I ended up with the Grey Pug. 

It's a Channel Islands Pug. Corrected by Colin Pratt 16/10/2020. I should perhaps have spotted this one. We have a lot of the larval food plant Tamarisk close to the house.

Channel Islands Pug - Eupithecia ultimaria

Another Rustic? Had one of these in the last blog. Two more now, all assessed independently and all three I came to the same conclusion - Rustic. There are a couple of other Rustic species and the aptly named Uncertain that it could be confused with and I really need to see these in the hand to sort out the differences.

Got it wrong again. It's a Vine's Rustic per Colin Pratt.

Vine's Rustic - Hoplodrina ambigua

Vine's Rustic - Hoplodrina ambigua

Also confused by the next one. Based on the wings I had decided on Square-spot Rustic but then of all things the eyes look wrong. They are not bulging as in most pictures that I look at. Closer examination would suggest that they probably are but the antenna are covering part of the eye.

Square-spot Rustic - Xestia xanthographa

Another Willow Beauty, there seems to be quite a few of these about. Markings are slightly different to the last one.

Willow Beauty - Peribatodes rhomboidaria

It is also worth remembering that a number of the moths can be seen as pests due to the damage they do in the larval stage. Often the clue is in the name and the Turnip moth is a good example. The larvae are known as Cutworms.  They attack the roots and lower stems of a huge range of plants and can be a particularly serious pest of root vegetables and cereals. Reading up on it, the Silver Y caterpillar is responsible for similar damage which I had not realised.

Turnip Moth - Agrotis segetum

And another pest species which is not even in my field Guide, the Box Tree Moth. This was accidentally introduced to the UK from south-east Asia. The larvae feed on various species of box (Buxus) and can do considerable damage. The first report of this moth was from Kent in 2007. This species is now well established in the South East and has been recorded widely over large parts of England including twice in my garden in the past week.

It also occurs in a melanic variation, the wings being purplish brown with a white spot near the centre of the forewing.

Pest or not, it's a nice looking moth.

 

Box Tree Moth - Cydalima perspectalis

I still have a few moths that I haven't got round to identifying yet. They are mostly Micro Moths and I think the micros will be even more challenging.

Anything mislabelled, please let me know.