Another seven nights have passed by but the garden actinic light was only run on three of them thanks to freezing fog here over much of the period. Wednesday night of last week brought in Winter Moth (1), Mottled Umber (1) & Silver Y (1), on Thursday night I had Mompha subbistrigella (1) & Winter Moth (6) then, after four nights off, last night (Tuesday) the light attracted Winter Moth (3) and a caterpillar of Angle Shades which was found climbing up the conservatory wall nearby.
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| Mompha subbistrigella, Westcott 3rd December |
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| Silver Y, Westcott 2nd December |
Silver Y is normally around from May until October (and ever more increasingly into November now) but I've only had a couple of December records previously - plus one from January in 2019. It can theoretically be found in any month of the year but winter records will generally be of migrants so more likely on the coast than this far inland.
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| Angle Shades caterpillar, Westcott 8th December |
Angle Shades caterpillars are quite regular sightings in the garden throughout the winter, although here at least they're usually of the green form rather than this quite dark brown one found last night.
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
The fog and temperatures at/below freezing (and yesterday evening's rain) have deterred me from running my traps for a week, but tonight is looking more promising. I last caught a Silver Y on the 22nd November - and I found an Angle Shades caterpillar (green form) on the sheet behind the trap on the 17th.
ReplyDeleteI'm also finding Mompha subbistrigella - but indoors instead of in/near a trap. My wife has potted two found in her study in recent nights, and last night as I was watching the Ten O'Clock News I saw a dark speck on the TV screen in the living room, which turned out also to be subbistrigella. I know it is found all year round, but it is interesting to see that of my twelve records for this species in 2020, four were outdoors (in the main season of April, May and September), and eight have been indoors in the off-season (January-March and November and December). I wonder if it is attracted as much by warmth (when doors or windows are open) as much or more than by light.
Along with Mompha epilobiella, jurassicella and very occasionally bradleyi (those last two really need dissection), M.subbistrigella is often found indoors here too during the winter months and I don't often see any of them outdoors at this time of year, but as it happens another subbistrigella was noticed today resting on the outside of an upstairs window (perhaps trying to find a way in!). We have loads of Great Willow-herb in the ditches around here so the moths are quite common.
ReplyDeleteApart from the two regular "house moths" (E.sarcitrella & H.pseudospretella), other species which appear indoors here quite often during the winter months are Nemapogon cloacella, Acrolepia autumnitella and Esperia sulphurella, some of which may come in on logs for the fire. As you say, the first sign of them is often out of the corner of your eye while watching the TV!