There are currently two more Triaxomasia caprimulgella in my pheromeone trap attracted by the LUN lure, so definitely attracted by the lure and an interesting bycatch to the intended Lunar Hornet, which has not yet appeared.
Edit: I ended up with four in the trap by later afternoon, so it is obviously doing OK in my local wood. I emailed Jon Clifton at Angleps to let him know that the LUN lure was attracting T. caprimulgella, but he was already aware. I imagine if they are in my local wood, then they ought to be in other woods in the area, so trying the lure in other woods could prove fruitful.
Adam Bassett
Marlow Bottom
I am intrigued by the specific epithet "caprimulgella" - it is the same word (bar the gender) as the genus "Caprimulgus" for the bird family of nightjars. The word means "goat-milker" and in the case of the birds, they are sometimes called goatsuckers, echoing a myth that they suck the milk from goats. The myth apparently dates back at least as far as Aristotle (4C. BC). It might have arisen if people saw nightjars (which are insectivorous) feeding at night near livestock: nightjars feed on insects, which could include insects disturbed by or attracted to the livestock. Unfortunately, modern observations of nightjars feeding near (let alone on) livestock are very few indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe explanation of how the goatsucker myth arose is plausible for the birds, but I don't see how it could have been the basis for the name of this particular moth. T. caprimulgella was first described in 1851 (by H.T. Stainton, as Tinea caprimulgella, although he credited Carl von Heyden) and I thought those were rather more enlightened times.
An English name for this species is Small Timber Clothes Moth. It is another diversion (timber clothes? no - a "clothes moth" (tineid) that seems to eat rotting timber) but provides no clue to the derivation of the scientific name.
I've not been able to find an explanation for "caprimulgella" online: does anyone know why Stainton gave it this name?