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.
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| Mottled Pug |
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| Currant Pug |
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| 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.
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| Actually a Caddis Fly? |
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| Dark Pug |
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!
ReplyDeleteYour 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.