It was a treat to find this little Fenland Pearl in the trap this morning (and thanks to the wonderful UTM Atlas for giving me that name, rather than the Latin Anania perlucida, though that's better than they often are). I thought at first that it was a pygmy Mother of Pearl but later discovered that I've had one before, though I've yet to track down whether that was here or during my years in Leeds. May I also check that the little chap below encountered on a daytime is a Blue-bordered Carpet? Sorry for poor pics. And sorry too, but I can't resist adding the lovely Privet Hawk, only the third of my usual hawks to arrive so far, after lots of Poplars and one Eyed. Moths here are good but low in numbers. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeleteWithout intending to re-ignite the "should they, shouldn't they" micro naming debate (I think you know which camp I'm in!), I'll just point out that someone has dictated that Anania perlucidalis should now be known as the "Marsh Pearl" rather than the "Fenland Pearl". However, it certainly is a nice little moth and, as the Atlas map shows, is fairly common in the damper areas of our region. Your other moth is indeed the smart Blue-bordered Carpet.
Thanks very much as always, Dave. I thought that the Blue-bordered Carpet was new for me too but I find that one visited the trap two years ago. I certainly don't want to upset anyone on naming but just as a personal thing, I think that English has a particularly superb record in this field. Friend who neither know not care about butterflies and moths almost always melt on hearing a roll-call of their names.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy trying to puzzle out the Linnaean names too, especially when they recklessly mix Latin and Greek. Anyway, many thanks again (and to all involved for the endlessly interesting things on this blog)