Thursday, 13 June 2019

Fox Moth caterpillars

The 40 or so eggs laid in the trap by the female Fox Moth which visited the garden here on 24th May hatched this morning.  I may try rearing the larvae for a while but will release them locally before they start to think about hibernation (which they do as a fully-grown caterpillar - not an easy stage to see through the winter successfully).


Fox Moth caterpillars, Westcott 13th June

I've still been running the trap nightly despite all the rain - will it ever stop?  Last night's result was fairly typical (153 moths of 33 species) so it certainly isn't a waste of time, but Heart & Dart (78), Treble Lines (17) & Vine's Rustic (9) were the only moths to appear in any numbers.  Tinea semifulvella, Argyresthia cupressella, the Timothy Tortrix Aphelia (now Zelotherses) paleana and Riband Wave were new for the garden year-list.

Tinea semifulvella, Westcott 12th June

Argyresthia cupressella, Westcott 12th June

Zelotherses paleana, Westcott 12th June

Having had Zelotherses unitana confirmed by dissection from the nearby Marsh Gibbon Rothamsted trap last year as a first for Bucks it is worth paying particular attention to paleana locally but, although worn, this male seems to have sufficient yellow scales left to confirm the ID.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks   
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4 comments:

  1. Alan Diver13 June 2019 at 18:35

    Very nice; lovely photos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alan Diver15 June 2019 at 13:52

    Dave,

    Do you light your moths to photograph?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave Wilton15 June 2019 at 19:16

    I try to avoid flash or other electronic light altogether. Pictures are taken in natural light on a north-facing window-sill, so avoiding direct sunlight too. The moths are tapped out of the pot onto a sheet of paper and photographed as quickly as possible. It can sometimes take a lot of patience to get them to sit still but if they're flighty then 99 times out of 100 they head straight for the window from which they can easily be re-potted.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alan Diver16 June 2019 at 09:59

    Many thanks for info.

    Alan

    ReplyDelete

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