Saturday 21 July 2018

Marlow Bottom 20th July

I have a difficulty at the moment in where to place my trap, as I have a wasp nest at the side of the house and a hornet nest in a bird box at the bottom of the garden - last night only trapped two hornets that only took a Dusky Thorn that I could see, so not too bad!

Really pleased to get yet another elm feeder last night - I didn't think that there was elm that close to me, but maybe I'm wrong.  Clouded Magpie was a new species for the garden.


Epinotia solandriana was another new species for me. I would welcome confirmation for this as it is new.


A third, probably new species, was this micro below, but I'm not sure what it is, so would welcome any thoughts.  It was c5-6mm long but evaded the pot, so I only have a shot from above - it does look fairly distinctive.


I get a lot of Black Arches here, another 11 last night, and do get the occasional darker form, but they are no common - here's one below.


Another interesting moth was this presumed second brood Orange Footman.  I have had a similar record in the past with one on July 27th 2010.


Adam Bassett
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4 comments:

  1. Dave Wilton21 July 2018 at 11:15

    Hello Adam

    Assuming that the size fits I agree that your Epinotia is probably solandriana judging by some images available on the net but I personally would feel more comfortable with the record if the moth was dissected. If it didn't have "common" next to it in the micro field guide I'd say it was a distinctly uncommon species (I've seen it only twice in Bucks and there are only 11 county records). It is easy enough to name from the forms which have a large dark rectangular blotch along the dorsum but your example doesn't have that feature.

    Nothing comes immediately to mind for the gelechid, I'm afraid!

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  2. Nigel21 July 2018 at 21:01

    Hi Adam, the third looks like Scrobipalpa costella to me. Have a look on the dissection site, second row, fifth image along from the left by Dave Appleton.
    http://www.mothdissection.co.uk/species.php?Tx=Scrobipalpa_costella

    Best,
    Nigel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adam Bassett21 July 2018 at 21:58

      Thanks Nigel, I think you’ve got it. I haven’t seen many of these and hadn't realised it was quite as variable.

      Delete
    2. Peter Hall21 July 2018 at 22:21

      So far all of the Clouded Magpie I have trapped this year (about a dozen) have been females and they readily lay eggs. I just put a couple of leaves of Wych Elm in a container and they seem to lay on and around it. The larvae hatch out after abouit 10 days.

      Delete

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