Recent Moths

Very behind on moth updates at the moment, thanks to waiting for micros to emerge from mines, and spring finally hotting up. I've been mostly doing recording by day at sites close to Oxford in the last couple of months, with a few nights of trapping at Aston Rowant as well.

At Sydlings Copse, I've spent quite a bit of time looking for and breeding mines. Back in March I started with some of the under-recorded miners of Pine needles, and found Exoteleia dodecella, Ocnerostoma pinariella, Cedestis subfasciella (bred out) and Ocnerostoma pinariella - bred and gen detted by Peter Hall (I think this may only have one or two VC23 records). 

Cedestis subfasciella - Ex mine at Sydlings Copse

Ocnerostoma pinariella - Ex mine at Sydlings Copse

I've also tried my hand at Elachista mines there for the first time this spring, with mixed results. I wasn't able to breed out Elachista atricomella/luticomella in Cocksfoot stems, and 20 collected possible albifrontella mines on the same plant were all parasitised! Still, I did manage to breed through the nationally-scarce Elachista obliquella on False Brome (since found at Aston Rowant too), and the related Elachista adscitella on Tufted Hair Grass. Martin has kindly confirmed that the latter is new to VC23, and I've since found the distinctive mines (leaf tip, frass packed at the top, grey larva with brown head) at 3 more sites - Shotover Country Park, Aston Rowant and Wytham (where Doug Boyes already had the adult last year). It looks like its widespread wherever the foodplant occurs, along with Elachista humilis on the same plant. I've found both species wherever I've looked so far.

Elachista adscitella - Ex mine at Sydlings Copse

Elachista adscitella mine - Sydlings Copse

Elachista obliquella - Ex mine Sydlings Copse

Elachista obliquella mine

Other bits at Sydlings Copse included Pammene giganteana to the SKI lure on 15th April, when I also collected a load more Phyllonorycter ulicicolella mines which produced my first adult on 17/5. I've also found this species at a couple more sites, including Hitchcopse Pit, Hurst (Cumnor) Hill and Shotover Country Park. The latter site also produced the distinctive galls of Monochroa cytisella in Bracken stems on 25/05, which I think may also be new to VC23. Unfortunately no photos, as my camera with the pictures got stolen the next day! While there, I also saw plenty of Metroites lutarea, and Hysterophora maculosana.

Phyllonorycter ulicocolella - Ex mine Sydlings Copse

Hurst Hill was also productive for larvae on Broom on 07/05, with more Trifurcula immundella mines, Phyllonorycter scopariella and larvae of Agonopterix assimilella and the Streak all found too.

Streak larvae - Hurst Hill

I've also made a couple of visits to the nearby Chilswell Valley, with a couple of Elachista mines there on 01/04 - Elachista argentella bred from Upright Brome, and Elachista humilis bred from Tufted Hair Grass. On 26/05 I also had a short session looking for micros at dusk, the best of which was probably Commophila aeneana.

Further away from Oxford, I've continued to visit Aston Rowant when I can. On the 9th April, I was pleased to find a number of larvae of Citron Plume hiding under wilted leaves on Ploughman's Spikenard rosettes as well as Orange-Tailed Clearwing galls on Wayfaring Tree. In warmer weather on the 25th I got rather distracted by butterflies, but lots of the classic spring chalk micros were starting, with Pancalia leuwenhoekella, Pyrausta nigrata, Rhopobota stagnana and Ancylis comptana all out. The latter two are often very abundant in the short grassland at Aston Rowant, along with Aethes tessarana and Mompha miscella (whose mines can be found on Rock Rose) slightly later on. Also quite abundant were larval webs of Scythris crassiuscula on rock rose, turning whole patches brown and covered with silk.

Citron Plume larva - Aston Rowant

A couple of weeks later (from the 16th) I returned to the site to help with an undergrad course. I didn't have loads of time to search for moths by day, but did find mines of Paracrania chrysolepidella on Hazel, along with a few cases of Coleophora binderella. Other interest was a surprise Cistus Forester larva (in a pan trap!) and a couple of Argyresthia arceuthina beaten from Juniper (along with plenty of Juniper Pug larvae). We also ran a couple of Robinsons throughout the week, but the results were pretty dire - single figures of moths most nights, but did get Light Feathered Rustic on the first night.

Paracrania chrysolepidella mine

Argyresthia arceuthina

Light Feathered Rustic

I returned to the site this week on the 2nd and had a much better session now that things have warmed up a bit. I started at about 15:30 looking for larvae and day-flying micros, which proved quite abundant in the muggy conditions. By dusk I was very pleased to have accumulated a total of 69 species, and then added another 31 to some LEDs on Linkey Down. Highlights by day were Mugwort Plume larvae leaving distinctive pale windows on the leaves (seems to only have a couple of VC23 records), Aethes smeathmanniana, Ancylis unculana (a couple flushed around scrub), Spuleria flavicaput, Brown Scallop (larvae in spinnings on Buckthorn), mines of Elachista adscitella and humilis on Tufted Hair Grass, Citron Plume (a lovely adult in the same area I'd found larvae before), Coleophora hemirobiella (cases on Hawthorn and Whitebeam), and more Argyresthia arceuthina. The latter were buzzing around the Junipers on Linkey Down in very large numbers at dusk. After beating about 20 bushes to get two the other week, it was quite a contrast - each bush seemed to have 4 or 5 fluttering around, with hundreds seen on the wing in total. Like Dave though, no sign of praecocella.

Mugwort Plume larva

Ancylis unculana

Sweeping the grassland also proved quite productive with Cauchas fibulella (from Speedwell), Stephensia brunnichella (quite frequent), a number of Elachista species among which I'm fairly sure I have bedellella and biatomea, plus a couple of others (they'll all get gen detted!). Trapping on Linkey Down later on was fairly steady but not too dramatic. Extra interest was provided by Light Feathered Rustic (1), Light Brocade, Marbled Brown, Shaded Pug, Orange Footman, Phtheochroa rugosana and Small Purple-Barred.

Phtheochroa rugosana

Bringing things up to the present day, I visited Burgess Field yesterday evening in the hope of finding Commophila aeneana among the abundant Ragwort. No luck unfortunately, but it was nice to find good numbers of Citron Plume fluttering around Ploughman's Spikenard along with quite a few Diamond Backed Moths and Coleophora albitarsella flying over a large patch of Ground Ivy.