Hypsopygia glaucinalis?

hi, I think this is a first timer for me, a bit old but I think identifiable as Hypsopygia glaucinalis?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Stigmella aceris.

Searching Norway Maples along Shire Lane in Chorleywood a couple of days ago, I found 2 vacated mines of Stigmella aceris in a single, rather small maple leaf, but nowhere else. This is generally a rather scarce moth and, if evidence of it is found at all, it is usually as leaf-mines in Field Maple leaves.

Andy King.

Mursley moths

A better night trapping in my garden last night...and one or two micros for a change.

I'm fairly sure this is Carcina quercana.

Could this be Anania perlucidalis...even though it's a bit late for it and it's not holding its wings 'by the book'?

Are these just different colour forms of Lunar Underwing? I'm amazed at the variety and numbers at the moment.

Mick Jones

Treble-bar or Lesser Treble-bar?

75 moths in the garden trap last night. New for the year were Large Ranunculus, Black Rustic, Grey Pine Carpet and Red-line Quaker, and also this Treble-bar - or is it a Lesser Treble-bar?

The forewing measures 17mm. The moth guides say you can differentiate the males by looking at the abdomen, but I think my specimen is a female. Here is an "underneath" photo.

All help/suggestions welcome.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Extra broods etc

Autumn is well with us moth-wise. Though numbers of the expected species are small in my garden, they're all turning up (except Large Ranunculus!!!). Have even had Satellite and Dark Chestnut already. Beautiful Hook-tip seems to regularly have this late autumnal generation now and have had a couple of very fresh ones recently. Common Wainscot second generation continues to do well and the Mallow's are starting to come now along with Blair's Shoulder-knot. Quite a number of species seem to fitting in extra generations this year - have seen reports of 3rd Generation Common Blues to show it isn't limited to the moths. On this theme I walked my Little Wittenham butterfly transect the other day and found 4 Chinese Character larvae on blackthorn. One was almost fully grown so we might see a fourth generation of this awesome little moth? The third generation we had included the greatest numbers of this species I have seen, but it was extremely short-lived, over in a week, so it seems they just got down to business with very little messing about. Marc Botham, Benson

Notes from Garsington

First Sallow and Blair's Shoulder Knot today. The Sallow follows on from Centre Barred and Pink Barred last week. Lots of Lunar Underwings and a few Brown Spot Pinions (incl. a fulva - pallida below) and one Beaded Chestnut.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

A Large Ranunculus at my porch light last night in Chorleywood, Bucks. Only the fourth one: 2 last year and one in 2010. But all were in September and all at the porch light and never in the back garden, where I normally trap. It is interesting how it often seems to happen that the porch light, although it attracts very few moths, has a different catch from the back garden. Looking at other posts, not just on this website, I think Large Ranunculus may be having a good year.
Andy King.

Second brood Swallow-tailed

Tonight i had my first ever second brood Swallow-tailed moth enter my garden trap here in Aylesbury which was pleasing. As Dave Wilton says, Lunar underwing is doing well even on the recent cooler nights, but not much else of note apart from a Barred sallow, Black rustic and Large ranunculus, and many Epiphyas postvittana. Dave Maunder

Second brood Swallow-tailed moth, 24-9-2014

Large Ranunculus, 23-9-2014

Barred Sallow, 22-9-2014

Couple of beauties

Its slowed down here in Milton Keynes, up to 10species per night with only 20-30 moths. Bordered Beauty was new for the year on the 22nd and a surprise Lilac Beauty last night (23rd) with Deep-brown Dart, Centre-barred Sallow and Hypsopygia glaucinalis also showing.

Beauties with Lunar Underwing.

Also an update on the Footman i had on Friday 19th September, it hasn't been chopped as yet, but my expert is 99% sure its a Scarce Footman. He said the forewings look silvery with a very faint stripe along leading edge which looks more like Hoary, but Hindwings have a faint yellow colouring instead of pure white which says Scarce Footman. Interestingly too he says rather than it being a second brood moth, its more likely to be a migrant.

Darren Seaman, Milton Keynes.

More of the same

Although there's nothing exciting to mention, here at Westcott, Bucks I've certainly had no shortage of moths to the garden actinic trap over the past few nights.  Brown-spot Pinion (20th), Blair's Shoulder-knot (21st) and Dusky-lemon Sallow (22nd) have been new for the year.  The only migrant of note was another Dark Sword-grass on the 20th, although what turned out to be 'just' a Red Underwing in last night's catch did raise my hopes for a second or two!

Lunar Underwing is doing particularly well here with nightly counts well into three digits, even on the 21st and 22nd when there were 127 and 126 individuals respectively despite the temperature falling to about 3C under clear skies.  It was also interesting to note activity from them just before dawn on both those nights with moths still arriving as I closed up the trap.  The species which fly at this time of year are made of sterner stuff!

Dusky-lemon Sallow is a bit of a local speciality.  I've never seen it away from my garden and that's where more than 60 of the 80-odd records for Bucks have come from.  There is no Wych Elm around here so it is presumably using hedgerow Common Elm, but that's widespread throughout the county so there must be other factors at play.  Most of the other records have come from the area north of Milton Keynes.  A picture of the rather battered specimen from the 22nd is shown below.  Dave Wilton

Dusky-lemon Sallow, Westcott 22nd September

   

Vine's Rustic and Pug?

Robinson trap run on 19th Sept in my back garden here at Tilehurst, Berks.
Catch = 122, Species = 22.
A record number of Lunar Underwing for me (65).
The pug above I think is a Double-Striped but would like confirmation please and also the type of Rustic. Due to the flight season, I'm guessing Vine's Rustic.

Tony Towner.

No micros, but a Large Wainscot

The temperature dropped to 3 degrees in my garden last night. As a result, not a single micro moth was found in the trap this morning, although there were still 42 macros. Of these, 23 were Lunar Underwings. New moths for the year were Sallow, Barred Sallow and Deep-brown Dart. In addition, there was a Large Wainscot, a moth that is new to me.

There was also what I take to be a Common Wainscot, so I photographed the two Wainscots together to show the difference in size.

There are some reed beds not too far away, and I guess this is where the Large Wainscot came from.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Flower power

A note of thanks to our esteemed blogmaster Dave for his encouraging headline the other day: Gardens are best. Inspired by this, and because our immediate neighbours were away overnight, I plonked the Robinson trap in our main flowerbed which I normally avoid because of the lamp's dazzle.

Results included Orange, Centre-barred and plain Sallow, Oak Hook-tip, Brindled Green, Dusky Thorn, Copper (or Svensson's Copper) Underwing, Flame Carpet, Yellow Shell, Ruby Tiger, Angle Shades, three shades of Lunar Underwing and a new one for me, the Marbled White Spot above.

There was also a Comma butterfly and a Blair's Shoulder-knot. I've always been full of admiration for Dr Kenneth Blair, a retired curator at the Natural History Museum in London, who discovered all three on the Isle of Wight between 1946 and 1951 and is immortalised as a result (at least among moth enthusiasts).  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Winter nearly here?

Earlier than one might expect with this Indian summer and second broods: a Feathered Thorn in my Radnage garden trap last night.
Ched George

Second broods here, too

A distinctly small Single-dotted Wave, some time after it supposedly ought to be about, in this morning's catch in Wolvercote, Oxon; and a micro, below, which despite the notorious difficulties distinguishing this group I hope may be a Paraswammerdamia albicapitella: any thoughts? Steve and Xander Goddard.

Possible Paraswammerdamia albicapitella, 19/9/14

Continuing on the same theme...

I ran a couple of MV traps in some private ancient woodland near Kingswood, Bucks last night and got 43 moth species (and no hornets - quite an achievement!).  An example of the tortrix Spatalistis bifasciana was perhaps the most interesting moth as it shouldn't be around at this time of year, while other second-brood species which don't always get seen included Riband Wave, Latticed Heath and Lilac Beauty (four examples of the last one).  While there have been four of five previous September records of Latticed Heath in Bucks, this is the latest by a couple of weeks.  While checking for leaf mines near the traps I found a final instar Chocolate-tip caterpillar feeding on aspen.  Dave Wilton

Spatalistis bifasciana, Kingswood 19th September

Latticed Heath, Kingswood 19th September

Lilac Beauty, Kingswood 19th September

 

Chocolate-tip larva, Kingswood 19th September

Second Broods

I've been getting a few second brood Small Blood-vein here in mk, along with the usual autumn species. Deep-brown Dart, Large Ranunculus, Turnip, Lunar Underwing and Rosy Rustic all new this week. Then along comes a Footman, maybe a second brood Scarce Footman? Hind wings look white so getting it checked tomorrow by an expert.

Darren Seaman, Milton Keynes.

Confirmation please?

I've been getting alot of different colour forms of Lunar Underwing - can someone confirm this one that looks a little different is indeed a Lunar Underwing?

Also seeing late broods here, Ruby Tiger, Riband Wave, Shuttle Shaped Dart, Small Dusty Wave, Common Wainscot.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Second brooders ---

I had a pristine Peppered moth to my garden trap here in Aylesbury on the 18th September, along with a second brood Small Ranunculus and Burnished brass, which quite surprised me as i've never seen a Peppered moth this late before - has anyone ever recorded this species so late before? Plenty of other second brooders include Small dusty wave, Riband wave, Small blood-vein, Heart and dart, Cabbage moth, Carcina quercana and Endotricha flammealis over the last few weeks in my garden, and my first Large Ranunculus yesterday, a day after getting Small ranunculus! Dave Maunder

Second brood Small Ranunculus, Peppered moth and Burnished Brass, 18-9-2014

Vestals

2 Vestals in garden trap this morning. Marc Botham, Benson

Gardens are best

Two nights ago Finemere Wood, Bucks produced a grand total of 14 moths of 12 species to a single trap in three and a half hours.  I was quite pleased to get my first Svensson's Copper Underwing of the year (they seem to be difficult to find this season) but there was absolutely nothing else of interest.  Last night I joined Marc Botham and Mary Elford at Besselsleigh Wood, Oxon (but VC 22) where we managed a little better but barely scraped 30 species between three traps.  Autumnal Rustic and Orange Sallow were nice to see but again there was little else worthy of note.

However, like Marc's garden trap near Benson (see his report below), my actinic trap here at Westcott, Bucks is doing really well at the moment.   Two nights ago it produced 317 moths of 44 species, with Galleria mellonella (Wax Moth) and Beaded Chestnut new for the year, while last night it managed 251 moths of 36 species with Dark Sword-grass and Brindled Green new for the year.  While I couldn't match Marc's migrant Pearly Underwing, I was quite pleased with the pair of Dark Sword-grass which were my first of the year anywhere.  Cabbage Moth was also good to see (not a regular here), while Lunar Underwing has quickly risen to knock Square-spot Rustic off its perch as top dog (counts of 72 and 63 respectively last night).

Dave Wilton

Dark Sword-grass, Westcott 17th September

Brindled Green, Westcott 17th September

Cabbage Moth, Westcott 17th September

    

Blastobasis lacticolella?

Autumn seems here and I'm seeing a few favourites from my very first days of trapping last year, this morning three very smart Brown Spot Pinions and a Black Rustic (plus a fair few crane flies). A few days back Lunar Underwings in dark brown, chestnut and fawn shades.

I also got this which I think is a worn Blastobasis lacticolella, can someone confirm?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

A tricky identification

Two nights ago I had a very worn moth in the garden trap. It had some residual markings of a Dotted Rustic but also looked like many other large noctuids and so required a more detailed examination. It turned out to be a worn Dotted Rustic, sadly nothing rarer although this is the only second of this species I had seen, and was swiftly followed by a better marked one the night after accompanied by my first Mallow of the year.

Worn Dotted Rustic - Benson 15th September

Less worn Dotted Rustic - Benson 16th September

The garden trap has been doing fairly well unlike my experiences trapping outside of the garden recently. Which is why the next moth came as an even bigger surprise - a Clifden Nonpareil in West Berkshire, considerably less tricky to identify than the worn Dotted Rustic a night earlier, and the highlight of the week by a country mile. The only other signs of nocturnal migration had been a handful of Diamond-back Moths and Silver Y, and Udea ferrugalis until last night when I had a Pearly Underwing to the garden trap among a fantastic catch of 251 moths of 45 species. Marc Botham, Benson

Clifden Nonpareil - West Berks 16th September

Pearly Underwing - Benson 17th September

Fern.

In Chorleywood, last night, I was moderately surprised to find a pair of Small Dusty Waves and a bit more surprised to have a Fern on the outside of the trap. WT and L say one generation to mid August for the Fern, but I often check the Hants Moth website for their phenology charts and I see they have a low incidence of the moth going through September, complete with  a slight gap, which strongly suggests to me second generation. Doing the same thing for Small D W, I can't really justify being surprised at getting a couple.
Andy King.

Further autumnal species

Black Rustic & Acleris emargana, accompanied by second-brood Scythropia crataegella & Beautiful Hook-tip, appeared in the garden trap here at Westcott, Bucks on 14th September while last night (15th) I got a rather worn Orange Sallow.  The Rothamsted trap at Marsh Gibbon, Bucks had a Brown-spot Pinion on 10th September and a Brindled Green last night.  Dave Wilton

Scythropia crataegella, Westcott 14th September

Orange Sallow, Westcott 15th September

Mursley moths

I re-positioned my trap last night (not easy in such a small garden!) and got a better catch after a series of disappointing nights. I was pleased to finally get Angle Shades, my 220th species since mid May. I was also fairly confident about Ypsolopha sequella and Black Rustic.

However, there were a couple of moths I was not sure about and would welcome help:

Is this Mottled Rustic?

...and could this possibly be Neglected Rustic? Sorry, just realised this is a heathland species - silly me! Any ideas what it is?

Many thanks
Mick Jones

Central Oxford Micro Query

Still very quiet here in central Oxford with numbers frustratingly low. I do have one micro query to put to the panel: it looks like an Acleris species and I would guess from the wing shape that it might be A. comariana (Strawberry Tortrix) though it could be A. laterana or A. schalleriana (though the shape looks wrong for this) which both have similar costal triangles. Any help would be much appreciated.

Adam

Acleris species

Dark side

That pointer to autumn, Darth Vader, has arrived in the Robinson trap here. I mean the Black Rustic, whose shape and colour bring the Star Wars villain to mind. There were two yesterday morning, one in the eggboxes and the other - above - on a wall nearby. On Friday night, meanwhile, the trap had an excursion to a lovely cottage between Minster Lovell and Worsham where Mary Elford had organised a moth meeting of the West Oxfordshire Field Club. She brought her actinic trap too and we had an
excellent catch including large numbers of Snouts and the Oak Hook-tip and Feathered Gothic, below.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon