These two micros came to lures this afternoon. The first I'm pretty certain is Nemapogon koenigi, which I have had before, attracted to VES, but this one was attracted to LUN. The second appears to be the rather scarce Triaxomasia caprimulgella, which came to the SAL lure.
Nemapogon koenigi, Stowe
Triaxomasia caprimulgella, Stowe
Suffolk Moths suggest that Triaxomasia caprimulgella is attracted to LUN and HOR lures, and as I had both traps very close to each other, it may be that it was initially attracted to the LUN, but then diverted to the SAL?
Hello Phil,
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't surprise me that you are finding moths attracted to lures other than the expected ones, especially these tineids, because the various lists of "other" species are by no means exhaustive. What does concern me a bit is that some people elsewhere seem to be assuming that what they're getting is a certain species because of these lists, yet there are other look-alikes which they haven't properly discounted. Looking at your two moths, I'd certainly be happy with Triaxomasia caprimulgella which is pretty distinctive and has turned out to be not quite as rare as was thought thanks to these pheromone lures (I had a pair to 'LUN' just over a week ago, the second year running it has appeared in the garden here). The Nemapogon I would prefer to have dissected because I think the lure it came to would be new information (it has been recorded at 'FOR' and 'VES' but, so far as I'm aware, not 'LUN').
Thanks Dave,
DeleteI have in fact retained both, so will send the Nemapogon off for dissection IDC.
I can't comment about it being attracted to the SAL lure, but at least this has prompted me to finally answer amy own question that I posted 3 years ago.
ReplyDeleteCaprimugella means literally goat-milker, or more usually goat-sucker, a name also used (in its English and Latin forms) for birds usually called nightjars. There is a good explanation for how the birds acquired this folk-name - due to mysteriously hawking for insects over livestock after dark (and making strange sounds) so that they could be blamed for the drying-up of any nanny-goat - but I was puzzled about how it came to be applied to a micromoth which could not conceivably be accused of milking goats.
I acquired a copy of Maitland Emmet's "The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera" a few months ago. He writes that Stainton (who first described this species in 1851) fancied that it resembles a nightjar in appearance. Well, I suppose that if one squints, they do share a mottling of darker and lighter brown. Kinda, sorta, and so long as one studiously ignores the moth's head colour!
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteI did wonder about that myself, with the obvious allusion to Nightjar in the specific name.