Tuesday 20 May 2014

Hotting Up in Oxford

It's been a good few days with the moth trap here in central Oxford culminating in a record breaking (for my modest garden) catch of 80+ moths last night. Naturally there have been quite a few "new for year" moths including: Mottled Pug, Flame Shoulder, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Willow Beauty, Currant Pug, Lesser Treble-bar,  Red Twin-spot Carpet, Vine's Rustic and Rustic Shoulder-knot for the macros and Celypha lacunana, Notocelia cynosbatella, Pyrausta aurata, Common Nettle Tap, Udea Olivalis and Pseudargyrotoza conwagana for the micros.

Mottled Pug
Currant Pug
The unpronounceable Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

Naturally after such a big haul I have a couple of queries left over. The first I think is actually a Caddis Fly rather than a moth but I just want to check. The second is a dark Pug which I am struggling with. Comments would be most welcome.

Actually a Caddis Fly?
Dark Pug

1 comment:

  1. Hi Adam, an easy one - yes to the caddis-fly! It is a pity that they are so difficult to name on sight because with only 200 or so British species they would seem to be a manageable group to get interested in. They are regulars in moth traps and last night at Holtspur each of mine was invaded by 200+ individuals of one of the few distinctive species, the 'long-horn caddis' Mystacides longicornis. At least they don't create as much mayhem in the trap as the May-bug does!

    Your dark pug is probably just a Common Pug but quite a few species have melanic forms so it would really need dissection to be sure.

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