Clearwing Season

 

Last year, during a hot few days in July, I managed to see four different Clearwings in the garden attracted there by Pheromone lures. Seeing them was one of my highlights of the year and a target I had been pursuing for a long time. I had seen success with Emperor Moth lures but after trying many different locations around the county I had begun to think that I had been sold some dud Clearwing lures.

I put the lures in the freezer for the winter and had really forgotten about them until my friend e-mailed me to say he had caught Red-belted Clearwings in his garden only about a mile from where I live.

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

Unfortunately I was off to stay in Bromley in South East London house sitting for a few days but I was taking the moth trap so the lures and trap went along as well. Bromley is very green for a London suburb with lots of large mature gardens and big trees so the mothing was good.

Currant Clearwing - Synanthedon tipuliformis

Clearwings were also flying. I had in total 8 Currant, 2 Red-belted, 1 Orange-tailed and 4 Yellow-legged Clearwings to the trap in the Bromley garden. The Currant and Orange-tailed being new species for me.

Orange-tailed - Synanthedon andrenaeformis

Returning home a week later I was keen to get the Currant and Orange-tailed on the Garden list so was quick to get the lures out before the hot weather disappeared. Over the next couple of days I managed to pick up 5 Currant, 1 Orange-tailed and 4 Red-belted before the hot spell broke and the cooler weather returned.

Yellow-legged - Synanthedon vespiformis

I am now waiting for the next hot spell. As we approach July I should see the Six-belted and Red-tipped which were in the garden last year. I am also hopeful of the Large Red-belted and Raspberry Clearwings which should be in the local area. So a potential seven or eight species for the garden. Beyond that it is going to get a bit more challenging.

Clearwings

 

Two years ago I purchased a set of  pheromone lures to attract Clearwing moths and also a lure for the Emperor Moth. Success has been mixed. That is to say the Emperor lure was an immediate success with ten to fifteen moths attracted each time it was taken out on the commons and the Clearwing lures were a complete failure or at least my use of them was a complete failure with no sign of Clearwings to any lure.

For a time the success with the Emperor moth was enough with some great picture opportunities being obtained.

But then you start to think, am I doing something wrong or have I been sold some duff bungs that have no pheromone content. I had done the research and over the two years had taken the lures on an extended tour of locations in Sussex, Kent and parts of Wales where there was a history of Clearwing sightings. With nothing to show for my efforts I needed a change of approach.

The Emperor moth had been easy, just clip the lure onto the rucksack, choose a hot day and a suitable location and wait for the moths to appear. But Emperor Moths are big and brightly coloured so easily spotted when they do a flyby. The Clearwings are small and for the most part black and are not easily spotted. There was a good chance that the lures had attracted Clearwings and that I had not seen them. I need some way of trapping them to ensure they didn't just fly off after a quick investigation and dismissal of the lure.

The answer was a cheap plastic trap although I could just as easily have made something out of a couple of plastic water bottles. What better place to try out my new toy than my back garden, in the middle of town, in an area with no history of Clearwing sightings. I really had no chance of success.

I decided that targeting the Six-belted Clearwing was my best hope. I loaded up the trap with the API lure and hung it in the apple tree at the bottom of the garden, checking it every hour. At midday on my fourth check there was movement in the trap. Opening it carefully I had two Six-belted Clearwings. How can finding something so small and insignificant give you such a feeling of joy?

Six-belted Clearwing - Bembecia ichneumoniformis

Six-belted Clearwing - Bembecia ichneumoniformis 

Flushed with success I replaced the lure with the MYO to target the Red-belted Clearwing and within the hour I had four in the trap.

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

It had to be worth trying for a third and with a lot of mature gardens around me the Currant Clearwing seemed the obvious choice using the TIP lure. There was nothing more that afternoon and checking the trap in the morning all I had was one very angry wasp. There was still nothing in the trap by midday so I added the VES lure which would then also give me the chance of attracting the Red-tipped Clearwing as well. As incredible as it may seem, within the hour I had a single Red-tipped in the trap.

Red-tipped Clearwing - Synanthedon formicaeformis

 

It just seems amazing that after two years of looking I find that I can attract the Clearwings to my back garden. The quest is now really on. I have three but there are another twelve to see and I also have a Clearwing garden list which is always a good incentive to keep searching.

Footnote - a second Red-tipped appeared in the trap just after I finished writing this blog but so far no sign of a Currant Clearwing.

Red-tipped Clearwing - Synanthedon formicaeformis

Then the next day just after I had finished adding the footnote I had a Yellow-legged Clearwing in the trap to an AND lure. I had been looking for Orange-tailed. I think that makes me nine Clearwings of four different types in four days. 

Yellow-legged - Synanthedon vespiformis

Given that I live in an area where the Atlas of Britain and Ireland's Moths suggests that no Clearwings are present I think access to these lures will show that Clearwing moths are far more common than we think.

And my garden list moves up to four.