Little and Large

We seem to be getting a few sub-standard individuals again, as happened last summer.  These two Six-striped Rustics came to the garden trap last night and the smaller one has a wing length of only 13.5mm.

Six-striped Rustics, Westcott 20th August

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Pug

At last a Pug I can identify and be fairly confident - new for me and my garden

a Cypress Pug.

Exit the Old Ladies

Like the ones in the charabanc on the left, the Old Ladies of Bridge 227 in Kidlington have gone. I've been meaning to bike down the canal for ages and finally did today. I don't know if anyone else has been recently and has a better idea of how long they may have stayed. As you can see below, I hope, Jon's suggestion that they had found fissures in the wonky stonework and built up from that base looks correct.  Thanks again for a fascinating find. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Lesser Treble-bar?

Not a particularly stongly marked or great photo but I think this is a Lesser Treble-bar. It was a female so no help from an underneath shot.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Possible Agriphila selasella, and a tiny micro

In my garden, Agriphila tristella is still quite numerous, but geniculea is beginning to take over. I try and keep an eye open for any selasella candidates, and think I may have 2, photographed below. I think the first one in particular looks a possibility.

In last night's garden trap, I also found this very small micro (fw length just 3.5mm). Can anyone suggest what it might be?

Steve Trigg, Cookham

New species for the garden and for me

Many others on this blog have been seeing these two quite regularly, but they're new arrivals for me.

This Tree-lichen Beauty was a first for my garden (Great Kimble) on 2 August, a moth I've only seen once or twice before (outside the Upper Thames area).

And last night's list of about 50 species from the trap included Gypsy Moth (male), a species I've never encountered before, alongside repeats of a few other recent garden arrivals such as Jersey Tiger and White-point.

Possible White-point?

I had to go over last night's garden catch in Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, in the shelter of a shed, as a very heavy shower intervened, so light conditions for photos weren't great. I had a couple of individuals which were on the Clay/White-point borderline, and only got a halfway decent photo of one of them, included below. My sense is that it looks more like a White-point - the 'speck' doesn't look especially tear-like, and the patterning looks similar to the illustration of the White-point in the Bible. I'm grateful for any thoughts.

Possible White-point, 17/8/19

Steve Goddard

Two moths to check identifications

Any advice on the below appreciated:

 A) is this Aptomis turbidana?

 and is this White Line Snout? 

Thanks

Barnaby Briggs, Iver

Micro from this week

After a couple of weeks in Greece (where our accommodation didn't prove to be very moth trap-friendly), I've run my actinic trap in my garden in Wolvercote, Oxfordshire on a couple of non-rainy nights this week, with not terribly much to show for it, though a Purple Bar on the 14th was a relatively nice garden record. The micro below looks like some form of Cydia, but I can't place what: it was distinctly short at about 7mm - as ever, all suggestions very welcome.

Unknown micro, 14/8/19

Steve Goddard

Pyrausta purpuralis

I ran a couple of traps at Homefield Wood near Marlow, Bucks on Thursday evening.  There weren't many moths at all but the usual suspects did turn up, including Oncocera semirubella, Mocha, Pretty Chalk Carpet & Clouded Magpie, along with a year-first Six-striped Rustic.

While checking the hind-wings (as I'm sure you all do...) to separate Pyrausta purpuralis from Pyrausta aurata, I found the odd-looking purpuralis shown below.

Pyrausta purpuralis, Homefield Wood 15th August

Pyrausta purpuralis, Homefield Wood 15th August

This is not the first time I've seen an aberrant form of this moth and a more extreme example from 2014, illustrated below, springs immediately to mind.

Pyrausta purpuralis, Bernwood Meadows 14th May 2014

Pyrausta purpuralis, Bernwood Meadows 14th May 2014

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks   

Foxglove Pug?

Size (FW about 8.5 mm) and timing (14 August) suggest that this could be a Toadflax Pug, but the small indentation on the outer part of the central crossband near to the costa suggest Foxglove Pug.  The Field Guide (WTL) suggests there is sometimes a partial second generation for the Foxglove Pug. Grateful for any advice.

John Thacker 

Harwell, Oxon

ID help appreciated.

My best guess, one of the Pyralidae?

Alan Diver

Tackley.

Westcott, Bucks

Well, that was quite an uninspiring seven days, although to be fair it was actually to be expected during this period in August when little usually happens.  Last night's catch of 274 moths of 57 species was fairly typical.  Adult moth additions to the garden year-list won't take long to cover:    

(8th)    Bucculatrix ulmella, Acleris cristana
(9th)    nil
(10th)  Narrow-winged Pug
(11th)  Cacoecimorpha pronubana
(12th)  nil
(13th)  nil
(14th)  nil

The list currently stands at 555 species for the year but that includes the leaf-mines discovered over the past week.  For adult moths the count is 542 (296 macros).

Numbers of Setaceous Hebrew Character are rising again and it has joined Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing at the top of the list of most numerous macros each night.  However, both of them are being outdone by the grass moth Agriphila tristella (a count of 70 last night is fairly typical).  I had a late Elephant Hawk-moth on the 11th, while a fresh Waved Black on the 12th might suggest a second brood.  Although not a year first, a very smart female Dark Spinach last night was only the fourth garden record for this supposedly common species (...as for Spinach, I haven't seen that here since 2007!).

Acleris cristana, Westcott 8th August 

Dark Spinach, Westcott 14th August

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks      

Gelechia nigra?

Gelechia nigra?

Alan diver

Tackley.

More Mines

As has been mentioned before, searching for leaf mines is a great way of expanding one's garden list to include some of our smallest species.  Even though we've not yet arrived at the traditional leaf-mining months of September and October, another dozen moths were added to the Westcott year-list this afternoon with larval mines found on blackthorn, cherry, hazel and hawthorn.  They included two active Nepticulids on hawthorn, Stigmella crataegella and Stigmella hybnerella, of which crataegella is a new species for the garden (it mines only in July and early August and I usually forget to look for it then). 

Active and vacated mines of Stigmella crataegella, 11th August

Active mine of Stigmella hybnerella, 11th August

I also took a quick tour of the lower leaves on our Norway Maple and in ten minutes found 33 vacated mines of Stigmella aceris.  This species was first noticed on the tree in 2016 (just a single mine) and has now been found on it each subsequent year.  The moth appeared in the UK in the 1970s and has been slowly spreading, although the speed of that spread seems to have accelerated considerably over the past few years.

Mine of Stigmella aceris with deceased larva, 11th August

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
     

Oegoconia question

I recorded my first Oegoconia species last night (attracted to a lit window). I think it is probably O. quadripuncta, but I see there are 2 other possible confusion species. My question is, do I need to retain the moth or can it be positively identified from my picture below?

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Micros. Grateful for ID help.

Think I'm happy with first 2.

Pammene aurita.( beautiful colouring)

Agriphila tristella

paraswammerdamia albicapitella?

Phycita roborella?

Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella)?

Alan Diver,

Tackley.

Best guess!.

Could this be Pine Hawkmoth that had seen better days. Caught Friday in Sibford Ferris

Look what the wind blew in Pt 2

So in spite of the weather last night I had my trap out for GMS.

I seem to have had quite a few new for me macros this year, and last night it was this:

...which unless I am very much mistaken is the infamous Oak Processionary.

Dave Morris
Seer Green

Moths in the Wind

I ran a single MV trap in a relatively sheltered spot in the garden last night and despite some rain and the constant high winds (frequent gusts in excess of 40mph all night) a total of 166 moths of 49 species reached the trap.  Contrary to what you might expect, moths (often some quite "delicate" species) do fly in high winds.  They simply operate lower to the ground and in the more sheltered spots.  After all, if you only lived for a couple of weeks and the survival of your species was dependant on finding a mate, the chances are you would think twice before taking a night off too!

Unfortunately the catch produced nothing of particular interest.  The only vaguely possible signs of migration were singletons of Plutella xylostella, Udea ferrugalis and Turnip.  A fresh Thistle Ermine Myelois circumvoluta was the first I've seen here since a run of 17 examples between 9th June and 18th July.  It is supposed to go on into September but I do wonder if this is just a single extended brood or not.  A Buff Ermine was also perhaps indicative of a second brood.  For the past five years or so I've seen the moth regularly during August so if nothing else it has extended its flight season.

Myelois circumvoluta, Westcott 9th August

Buff Ermine, Westcott 9th August

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks