Yponomeuta cagnagella

At last I've been able to add one of this impossible group of moths to the Westcott site list, species 1,002 for the garden.  A web containing 30 or so larvae was found on our Spindle Euonymus europaeus on 25th April and some of them were taken into custody on 16th May.  They had pupated within their web by 29th May and the first plain white adults of Yponomeuta cagnagella (five of them) emerged indoors today.  Three species feed on spindle, Yponomeuta plumbella and the rare Yponomeuta irrorrella being the other two, so it was necessary to see the adult to be absolutely sure which species I had.

Yponomeuta cagnagella larvae on Euonymus europaeus

Yponomeuta cagnagella cocoons inside web

Yponomeuta cagnagella adult, Westcott 11th June

Having originally found just the one web, I subsequently discovered several more on each of our two bushes and another on our cultivated Euonymus japonicus, so last year's adults must have had a really good breeding season locally.  This is the first time I've ever had webs in the garden.

Yponomeuta cagnagella larvae on Euonymus japonicus

Our garden is also well-stocked with blackthorn and hawthorn (food-plants of Yponomeuta padella), apple (Yponomeuta malinellus) and willow (Yponomeuta rorrella), the other species which can't be separated as adults, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for any signs of webs on these plants too and rear them through if I want to add them to the garden list.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks