Sunday 30 October 2016

IMPERIAL PARK

The work security lights have been a bit slow in turning up the moths of late but did produce a lifer for me tonight (30/10) while out on one of my teabreaks on the nightshift in the form of this Gem.


   

Funny things on Oak

Late October leaf-mining on Oaks at Dingestow produced two larval signs of interest: the larval mines of Ectoedemia subbimaculella with slits that frass is ejected through, and frass-covered tubes on the underside of leaves which had me totally baffled but which were IDed as Gypsonoma dealbana by Billy Dykes.

The blotch mines of Ectoedemia subbimaculella have a slit at one end, from which the larva ejects frass.
This is unique to this species, which is a notably late feeder, with larvae occupying the mines well into November,
often continuing to feed in 'green islands' after the leaves have dropped. 
Earlier in the month, the similar (but slitless) mines of E. albifasciella were commonplace.

The common Tortricid Gypsonoma dealbana makes a silk tube, covered with frass, on the underside of Oak leaves.  Something new I learned today!

Saturday 29 October 2016

Redhouse Barns, 26th October

Not a bad catch for the time of year. 7 Large Wainscots, 15 Beaded Chestnuts, 2 Large Yellow Underwings, 3 Angle Shades, 1 Silver-Y, 3 Epirrita spp. 1 Figure of  8 and a Green-brindled Crescent.

Green-brindled Crescent


3 of the 7 Large Wainscots


Figure of 8




Wednesday 26 October 2016

Late October MV trapping

 

Two nights with the MV at Dingestow Court showed that moths are still around in reasonable numbers so long as it isn't too cold.  A female Autumnal Moth was the moth highlight of the 13 species caught on the drizzly night of 24th October, although a calling flyover Dunlin at 07:18 was new for Dingestow and much more exciting!  Southerly winds on the 25th October didn't produce any migrants, but they boosted the count to 20 species, with a male Vapourer the stand-out.  Supporting cast included Blair's Shoulder-knot, Merveille du Jour, BrickSallow f flavescens (when you see something so uniformly pale on a southerly airflow in late autumn your mind whirs through various rare Mythimna spp., but sadly this was just a Sallow!) and Hypsopygia costalis.


 

Monday 24 October 2016

Ectoedemia argyropeza


It is a good time to look for the uncommon Micro Ectoedemia argyropeza, as fallen brown Aspen leaves may hold 'green islands' caused by the mines of this species.  Today I found it at the Yew Tree Wood - the 4th record for VC35 and the 500th Micro for my Dingestow recording area.  Spotting this species earlier in the year is very difficult, because it mines the leaf stalk of Aspen forming a small frass-filled gall.  It is even difficult in early autumn when the larva moves to the leaf base, because the mine is small.  Luckily the mining causes part of the leaf to stay green when the rest goes brown; this 'green island' is very easy to spot.  Keep your eyes peeled!

Tuesday 11 October 2016

Vapourer eggs at Uskmouth

Tara from RSPB pointed this Vapourer cocoon covered in eggs to me. Its on an NNR sign at 


Uskmouth. She spotted the wingless female and a male mating on the cocoon a couple of weeks ago. The sign is approx 15m away from the nearest potential food-plant, a sallow, so the newly hatched caterpillars  will have quite a trek to make when they hatch in the spring.

Saturday 8 October 2016

Autumn brightness


Cloud cover and light winds, albeit from the north, produced a good, warm night on 7th October, and the Dingestow Court MV was suitably productive.  70+ moths of 27 species appeared, including a nice array of autumn's brightly-coloured species.  Highlight was Dingestow's 3rd Large Wainscot (previously recorded here in September 2004 & 2005), which must have wandered a good distance because of the lack of local reedbeds.  Dark Swordgrass finally made a 2016 debut, and there were 3 Plutella xylostella.  Nice-looking resident species included Barred Sallow x3, Merveille du Jour x3 and Grey Shoulder-knot x1.  Both Willow Beauty and Pale Mottled Willow were carefully checked in case either was something more notable.


 


 

Thursday 6 October 2016

IMPERIAL PARK

Not a lot of moth activity under the works security lights while working the night shifts this week.

Highlights were these two from Tuesday & Wednesday nights, The Delicate & a Dusky-lemon Sallow.

                             The Delicate
Dusky-lemon Sallow

Sunday 2 October 2016

Sorbus mines at the Wyndcliff


A day GPS-ing the Wyndcliff Whitebeams on Friday gave me a chance to look for mines on these scarce trees.  One tree held mines of Phyllonorycter mespilella and another had what I guess is Stigmella mespilicola, each of which has single previous VC35 records, both from the Wyndcliff in the past.  The Wild Service Tree near the carpark also had presumed S. mespilicola mines.

Madder Pearl damage?


The larvae of the Pyralid Mecyna asinalis (Madder Pearl) feeds on Rubia peregrina (Wild Madder), forming windows on the leaves.  I'm pretty certain this is the feeding damage observed at Wyndcliff on Friday.  Surprisingly, I can only find one previous VC35 record of this species, from Caerwent, although I have a nagging doubt someone else has reported it here.  Wyndcliff is really regularly trapped, so it would be odd for this distinctive moth to have been overlooked there.  All in all, a bit of a mystery.

Brown-spot Pinion among the Beaded Chestnuts


A Brown-spot Pinion - uncommon here at Dingestow Court - was highlight of 50+ moths of 10 species that came to MV on 30th September.  I regularly stare at Beaded Chestnuts with dark costal markings, just in case, but - as is so often the case with moths - the real thing is instantly recognisable.  The rounded orbicular stigma contrasts nicely with the narrow one on Beaded Chestnut.

Saturday 1 October 2016

Goldcliff 29th September 2016

I put out an actinic Skinner Trap for the 5th time this September after Mallow moths. At last I caught one. Hopefully more in the next couple of weeks.



LIGHTHOUSE PARK

Had to wait till the last trap of September (30th) for this Convolvulus Hawk-moth to drop onto the sheet next to the MV trap. A lifer for me and one i had been really hoping for this year.

Ran the trap for 5 hours and little else dropped in but Blair's Shoulder Knot and Barred Sallow were new for year.