More Umbers

 After Dave Wilton's helpful explanation  of what to look for, here are a few that I think are all Mottled Umber. They all turned up last night - it was good to see such a variety of forms.

Best wishes

David

A good night's mothing!

 Hi there,

30 moths in the trap last night - 5 species in total, with a Pale Brindled Beauty turning up rather early in the winter. I had a good range of Mottled Umber in all its variety of forms, and the three moths shown, where I'm not sure between Mottled and Scarce Umber. Please put me straight!

Many thanks and best wishes

David

I think the middle one is Scarce, but I'm particularly unsure about the other two because of the shape of the outer cross-line.

Checking out a Plume

 

I've just lit the lamp for the first time in ages and it reminded me to ask if it might be possible to identify this Plume which came on 19 November. Since then I've had many a December moth so my list of 'usuals' is now complete.  Many thanks in anticipation, even if the answer is 'No'. Merry Christmas and thanks for all the help, interest and fun during the year.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon.

What is this micro?

 Hi there,

Found this dead in my trap two nights ago. Not in great nick, but can anyone help with it?

Thanks, David

Pale Brindled Beauty

Making a change from just Winter Moths, which is all I've had each night since the 4th, there was a little more variety last night with December Moth (1), Winter Moth (1), Pale Brindled Beauty (1) & Mottled Umber (3) all turning up to the garden actinic light.  After a frosty night tonight things look to be warming up a little for about a week.

Pale Brindled Beauty, Westcott 9th December

Although traditionally one of "next year's moths", Pale Brindled Beauty is increasingly being seen during December and sometimes even earlier than that (for example, Phil Tizzard had one on 19th November this year).  Spring Usher could well start flying soon too, while it is also time to look out for some of the early spring noctuids such as Common Quaker and Hebrew Character which have been known to appear before Christmas in some years.  I even had a Lead-coloured Drab on 17th December in 2018 (see here).

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Moths are still out there

Last night the garden actinic light brought in seven moths of four species:  December Moth (1), Winter Moth (3), Mottled Umber (2) & Scarce Umber (1).  All had arrived by 8pm apart from the Scarce Umber which must have turned up sometime in the early hours.

December Moth, Mottled Umber & Scarce Umber
Westcott 3rd December

It is getting a bit late for Scarce Umber now.  The one above equals the latest date I've ever had a male of the species in the garden here, although I have seen them throughout December in local woodland and I found an active female on the conservatory roof at the end of January this year. 

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Westcott, Bucks

The carpet of snow here started to disappear after dark as the temperature finally began to rise and I thought there might be a chance of moth activity before dawn this morning.  I was expecting the usual Winter Moth or Scarce Umber (all I've had other than blanks for nearly a week now) so it made a change to find this smart Satellite at 6.30am, looking as though it had only just turned up to the light.  There was nothing else to be seen apart from a few flies.

Satellite, Westcott 29th November

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Mine on oak leaf

 I believe this mine on oak is either Stigmella roborella, ruficapitella or atricapitella. If so, can one can get any further? I assume the larva has left and pupation has occurred, but there seems to be no visible exit hole!

Phil T

Acleris notana??

 I know this can be variable, and not sure what else it can be. Please put me straight.

Best wishes

David

Mompha species

The ditches in our local area are full of willowherb (Epilobium spp) and during the winter months I often find inside our house examples of some of the Mompha species which feed on them.  Four appear here in that way, Mompha epilobiella, Mompha subbistrigella, Mompha jurassicella and Mompha bradleyi.  Of the others which hibernate as adults I've had langiella once to light but never found it indoors, while neither divisella (seemingly absent from Bucks) nor sturnipennella (very rare in the county) have been found here. 

This month I've seen epilobiella a couple of times already (easy to identify because of its overall light brown shading).  Yesterday evening I caught the moth below flying around in our kitchen and I suspect that it is jurassicella, although that one and bradleyi are quite difficult to separate especially when they're no longer fresh.  The former is far more common here than the latter (50+ records for jurassicella, an annual find indoors with many confirmed by dissection, and four for bradleyi, all confirmed by dissection with the most recent sighting in 2019).  This one will be retained to be sure which of the two it is.

Likely Mompha jurassicella, Westcott 24th November

The actinic light is still being run here nightly despite the steep drop in temperature and, so far at least, I've only had one blank night (the 22nd).  Last night produced Winter Moth (3) and Scarce Umber (1).  The only other species I've had over the past six nights have been December Moth, Red-green Carpet, Mottled Umber and Brick.

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Pale Brindled Beauty

Assuming I have the ID correct, (I spent a while trying to turn it into a Mottled Umber before the penny droppped!), a very early Pale Brindled Beauty in the MV trap last night. 

Phil T

Black-spotted Chestnut

Robin Knill-Jones had his first Black-spotted Chestnut of the season in Denham, Bucks last night.  Surely by now someone else in south Bucks must start getting this species!  It has already made appearances at two or three sites in Bedfordshire over the past couple of weeks. 

Black-spotted Chestnut, Denham 19th November

 

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana and new photo

Having now got a better photo of the deformed micro from my previous post against a neutral background I think Acleris sparsana looks most likely.

Last night's rather disappointing catch did include a late Pseudargyrotoza conwagana. 

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris. Oxon.

E-moth

The latest issue of E-moth from Butterfly Conservation should be available at the link here.

Caterpillar--Angle Shades?

I found this rather fat green caterpillar in one of my gardening gloves when I put it on this afternoon! I think it's Angle Shades? Was it thinking of pupating there I wonder? 

2021 isn't over yet...

Just a reminder to those who may be new to mothing that although numbers have now fallen off a cliff there are still a few species out there to be found, some of which you won't see at any other time of year.  Provided that the temperature is a few degrees above freezing at dusk, even if a frosty and clear night is forecast there will still be moths around for the first few hours after dark.  In fact last night was quite a good example of that here, with December Moth (1), Feathered Thorn (1), Scarce Umber (1), Sprawler (2) and Chestnut (1, the first arrival even before it was properly dark) all appearing by 10pm.  The only addition between then and dawn this morning (by which time we had a light frost) was a third Sprawler.  Running a trap even for just an hour or two from dusk can often net you a handful of moths over the winter months.  

Scarce Umber, Westcott 15th November

Last night's Scarce Umber here (above) is one of those moths which only fly at this time of year.  It is quite common and widespread but is usually found only during November locally, unlike Mottled Umber which keeps going well into the new year. 

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks 

Another Epiphyas postvittana?

This micro from last night appeared very different by torchlight but on closer examination the apparently pointed wings are actually the hindwings protruding. It is just over 10mm in length. I suspect just another Epiphyas postivittana?

 Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

Two micro puzzles in moth trap

 This micro looks like Pseudargyrotoza conwagana but it's surely too late in the year isn't it?

 This one is new to me - looks like it could be Tachystola acroxantha which I read is an import from Australia.

 

 

Westcott, Bucks

There was a little flurry of micro-moth activity here last night out of a total catch of 17 moths from 14 different species.  They included a single migrant Plutella xylostella and the tortricoid moths shown below:

Likely Acleris ferrugana, Westcott 12th November

Acleris schalleriana, Westcott 12th November

Acleris variegana, Westcott 12th November

Epiphyas postvittana male, Westcott 12th November

Epiphyas postvittana female, Westcott 12th November

Acleris ferrugana needs dissection to separate from Acleris notana.  This example won't be checked because one was confirmed here at the beginning of the year and I only ever seem to get ferrugana in the garden.  They are both species which over-winter as adults, as is Acleris schalleriana, and could appear again on warmer nights early in the new year.  Acleris variegana, on the other hand, is single-brooded locally between July and October, although increasingly these days it seems to keep flying into November and I've even had a December record (on the 5th, in 2005).  Epiphyas postvittana, the infamous Light Brown Apple Moth from Australia, can be found in any month of the year and there is a marked difference in size, shape and markings between the smaller male and larger female.  Coupled with the fact that both sexes are quite variable, this can often lead to identification problems for the unwary.

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Caterpillar in moth trap

Just 5 adult moths to the garden trap last night, but also this dark hairy caterpillar.. My suggestion is White Ermine, but I guess there could be other candidates?

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Plumed Prominent

Ched George had a male Plumed Prominent to his outside light last night.  This is quite remarkable because Ched lives in Radnage, near Stokenchurch, so this is in a completely new tetrad and marks the first ever Bucks record from north of the M40 (all our previous sightings have been in a tight cluster to the south of the motorway).  Could this smart little moth be on the move?  Or maybe we've been overlooking it away from the usual sites!  

Plumed Prominent, Radnage 11th November

Bordered Beauty

I was a bit surprised to find this in the trap this morning, since the flight period is quoted as Jul-Sept. The Moth Atlas histogram shows one tiny bar at the end of Oct/beginning of Nov, but it looks like a 1970-1979 record, and indeed it suggests the flight period has moved earlier. Could it be a second generation, or is it just very late?

Phil T

Red Sword-grass

At 6pm last night I was minding my own business, out trapping in south Bucks to check on whether one of our rarer moth species had started flying, when I got a message from my wife Val back at home saying "do you know what this is on the kitchen window?" with an accompanying not-too-helpful phone photo of a moth's undersides.  Having persuaded her to go outside and pot it up, I was then sent another phone picture from which its identity became clear - a Red Sword-grass - and I only just managed to resist the sudden urge to pack up and drive straight back home!

Red Sword-grass, Westcott 9th November

The moth is resident on the west side of the UK but is rarely seen on the east side where it is most likely an immigrant, or at least a long-distance wanderer.  This example is the seventh record for VC24, the only other post-millennium sightings having been at Longwick (2005), Chorleywood (2014 & 2016) and Lavendon (2017), three widely-spaced locations.

Red Sword-grass is the fourth macro-moth to be added to the Westcott garden list this year and the 450th macro overall, so quite a significant visitor.  The remainder of last night's garden collection included my first Scarce Umber of the season and a late Merveille du Jour (the first here for nearly three weeks), but otherwise it was a fairly typical catch for early November of 26 moths from 12 species. 

Back to last night's visit to woodland near Marlow, Bucks where I was checking to see if the nationally scarce Plumed Prominent was on the wing yet.  Although its larvae feed on Field Maple, which is widely available, the moth itself is restricted to a handful of sites in southern England and one of them is the area around Marlow and Henley on the Bucks/Oxon border.  Bonfire Night is the trigger to think about searching for this late-flying species and the earliest date I've seen the moth locally is 6th November, but in the past I've had quite a few failures before about mid-month.  Last night was successful, though, with two males turning up between 6.30 and 7pm.  If you haven't seen a male by about 8.30pm it is time to pack up because they fly quite early (the females are supposed to fly later in the night although the only one I've ever seen, out of about 80 individuals, appeared early with the males).

Plumed Prominent, 9th November

The above picture is not the best of images, taken on the sheet under the MV trap in the light of my head-torch, but it shows the massive antennae quite well.  Other species seen before I packed up at 8.30pm were Diurnea lipsiella, Acleris sparsana, December Moth, Barred Hook-tip (a very late specimen), Red-green Carpet, Spruce Carpet, Feathered Thorn, November Moth agg., Green-brindled Crescent, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker, Brick & Barred Sallow.

Diurnea lipsiella, 9th November

Barred Hook-tip, 9th November

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks          

Stoke Goldington, Bucks

 A reasonable night with a garden record of 10 Sprawler (none of which were actually inside the Skinner trap). Also, this rather plain looking micro which I'm making guess at Blastobasis lacticolella, but willing to be corrected.

Westcott, Bucks

December Moth put in its first garden appearance of the year here last night with four individuals turning up, all of them male.

December Moth, Westcott 8th November

They were accompanied by Acleris variegana (1), Acleris kochiella (1), Red-green Carpet (6), Winter Moth (1), Feathered Thorn (1), Silver Y (1), Sprawler (14), Yellow-line Quaker (1) & Beaded Chestnut (1), so quite an acceptable result for this point in the year.  Sprawler seems to be doing reasonably well at the moment as that's 37 of them I've had here over the past four nights, taking this season's garden total to 55.  However, the moth will have to get a move on to reach 2018's count of 154!  Acleris kochiella is a regular here (there is plenty of elm both locally and within the garden) although the only other example to appear at Westcott this year was also a winter specimen back in February.  I keep hoping for the rather similar Acleris logiana (a birch feeder) which visited the garden a couple of times in 2020 but has yet to put in an appearance this year.  It is another one which over-winters as an adult.

Acleris kochiella, Westcott 8th November

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

A bit of a challenge

I will be pleasantly surprised if anyone can ID this little chap, found in a crack in the plaster at my grandchildren's house and rescued by the post-booster NHS leaflet which I had on me at the time. Moths very sparse now but I've had interesting encounters with a very lively hedgehog, a drowned baby grass snake and a roadkill otter, found on the Banbury Road verge. The Environment Agency collected it the following morning to send to Cardiff University where otter autopsies apparently provide lots of interesting info.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Acleris sparsana - at last

Acleris sparsana is an annual visitor to the garden although I only get one or two each season.  I was beginning to give up hope this year but then this rather tired-looking and poorly-marked specimen turned up last night.

Acleris sparsana, Westcott 6th November

The results from the last two nights have actually been quite reasonable for the time of year, with 12 species on each of them (for a combined total of 17 different species).  Red-green Carpet (6) and Feathered Thorn (6) provided the highest counts on the 5th while Sprawler (10) was the winner last night. 

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Dusky Brocade?

 

Now things have quietened down (only one moth last night!) I'm going through my photos trying to identify some of those I deferred identifying at the time. This was recorded on 12th July and I think it's a Dusky Brocade, but I'm far from certain, so would appreciate confirmation or otherwise.

Thanks

Phil T

Mottled Umber

There have been no blanks yet here in the garden although it came close on Tuesday night with just a pair of Sprawlers turning up.  Last night's collection (eight species) included another Dark Sword-grass and my first Mottled Umber of the season.

Mottled Umber, Westcott 3rd November

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Another couple of queries

I think the top one, from mid-October is a very dark Lunar Underwing, but the wingtip shape looks more like Beaded Chestnut - and it's SO DARK!

The second looks like an Acleris or Pandemis to me, but no species in the book looks quite right. Is it one of the very variable ones?

And No3 is so featureless, I'm not sure at all - is it just a very plain Chestnut?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

David

Westcott, Bucks

This brings noteworthy sightings in the garden here at Westcott up-to-date to the end of October.  The period from the 26th through to the 28th in particular offered the possibility of migrant activity although it needed bricks inside the trap and bungee cords to keep the trap together in what were very gusty conditions.  Needless to say very little of interest ventured this far inland, but if you don't try you don't get!  October has seen a total of 84 different adult moth species recorded in the garden (23 of them micros), down from 175 adult species (69 micros) in September.  22 leaf-mining early stages were also added over those two months and the garden list for 2021 currently stands at 640 species although there are a good number of dissections still to be carried out which should add significantly to that total.  This suggests that the garden will end up with quite an acceptable number of species for the year, but I'm sure the overall count of individual moths will be well down.  We'll see when I eventually catch up with inputs to MapMate.   

     (22nd)  43 moths of 12 species; nothing new for the garden year-list.

     (23rd)  54 moths of 19 species; Tawny Pinion was new for the garden year-list.

     (24th)  26 moths of 13 species; nothing new for the garden year-list.

     (25th)  21 moths of 7 species; nothing new for the year-list.  Of note was a migrant Dark Sword-grass.  

     (26th)  75 moths of 23 species; nothing new for the year-list.  Of note were the first garden adult of Caloptilia stigmatella this year (already recorded as a leaf-mine) and migrant Udea ferrugalis (2).

     (27th)  69 moths of 19 species; Cydalima perspectalis was new for the garden year-list.

     (28th)  64 moths of 23 species; nothing new for the year-list.  Of note were migrant Udea ferrugalis (2).

     (29th)  27 moths of 13 species; nothing new for the year list.  Of note were the first Winter Moth here of the season and another migrant Udea ferrugalis. 

     (30th)  11 moths of 6 species; nothing new for the year list.  Of note was yet another migrant Udea ferrugalis (something different would have been nice!).

     (31st)  10 moths of 5 species; nothing new for the year list.

The Tawny Pinion (23rd) was especially welcome because the moth only seems to put in an appearance here every three or four years if I'm lucky and this was the first since 2017.  Stable-mate Pale Pinion, on the other hand, is an annual visitor.  The Box Tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis was interesting.  With none seen here during the summer I hadn't expected to record it at all in the garden this year but then two turned up on the 27th and one more on the 28th on what were very windy and wet nights - migrants, perhaps?  The moth first appeared in the garden in September 2017 and a further singleton followed in August 2018.  None was seen in 2019 but two more visited in July 2020.  I know some people have been absolutely inundated with this pest species from the Far East but luckily I've not had that experience - yet.  The first Winter Moth of the year (29th, a poorly-marked example) might seem a little early but appearances during the second half of October are becoming more and more frequent these days.  Last year the first garden record was on 17th October which remains my earliest ever date for the species. 

Tawny Pinion, Westcott 23rd October

Cydalima perspectalis, Westcott 27th October

Winter Moth, Westcott 29th October

Found indoors on the 28th, scurrying around on the inside of an upstairs window pane, was a Nepticulid which hopefully will be identified by dissection in the fullness of time, although with a fore-wing length of just under 2mm its bits must be miniscule!  The appearance of the moth itself should help to narrow down the pool of suspects (dark scape, whitish head and eye-caps and the position beyond mid-wing of the lighter fascia).  Trying to use the key in MoGBI vol.1 proved unsuccessful but that key is 40 years old and I suspect a lot more has been learned about these tiny species in subsequent years.  

Stigmella species, Westcott 28th October

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

Stoke Goldington. Another late Vine's Rustic?

 Captured on 27th Oct, I am assuming a pale, late Vine's Rustic?