Micro from MV trap 24th

 Possibly Cnephasia sp?

Looks distinctive but can’t pin it down.Thoughts?

Best

Will

A puzzle

This moth was caught in my garden on Wednesday night (23rd).  Is it a White-line Dart?  It's worn and very dark; I lengthened the exposure in order to make some features easier to see.  It's very late for one to be flying and I'm also not convinced by the stigmata.  The lack of arrowheads on the subterminal line might indicate Garden Dart, but could be due to wear and doesn't help with the lateness.

Or have I missed something obvious?  The moth is reposing in my fridge.

Tim Arnold
Newton Longville, Bucks

Woodland trapping

I've had a couple of late-season "away sessions" in local woodland in Bucks this week.  On Wednesday evening I ran a couple of MV traps for the usual three hours from dusk in Finemere Wood.  The catch was much as expected on a chilly evening and only 14 species were caught, but Figure of Eight produced really good numbers with 86 recorded between the two lights.  It is no great surprise that it does well here because there is so much blackthorn in the wood, but it was great to see so many examples of a moth classified as Endangered.  There were only a couple of micro species flying but one of those was Diurnea lipsiella which isn't seen all that often in our area, being restricted mainly to oak woodland, although its flight period in October and November means that the moth is probably under-recorded. 

Diurnea lipsiella, Finemere Wood 23rd October

Figure of Eight, Finemere Wood 23rd October

Last night (Thursday 24th) I took a 15w Heath trap and the two MVs to Bernwood Forest for the same amount of time but the number of species caught was higher at 25 thanks to better temperatures and thus more micro activity.  Figure of Eight appeared again at all three traps but the overall total (34) was lower than at Finemere thanks to there being far less blackthorn adjacent to my chosen trap sites.  The most numerous species was actually Feathered Thorn with exactly 100 seen.  Unexpected moths included Buff Footman and Rosy Footman, although late appearances like this are not unprecedented at Bernwood, while my first December Moth of the season also turned up to one of the lights.

December Moth, Bernwood Forest 24th October

Rosy Footman, Bernwood Forest 24th October

Buff Footman (female left, male right), Bernwood 24th Oct

The micros at Bernwood comprised Ypsolopha ustella, Plutella xylostella, Diurnea lipsiella, Carcina quercana, Blastobasis lacticolella, Pandemis cerasana (rather late), Acleris ferrugana/notana, Acleris rhombana, Acleris emargana & Emmelina monodactyla.  Of these, Carcina quercana was the most numerous with eleven spread between all three lights.  

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks   

New Garden Moth

Stoke Goldington, North Bucks:

 Attracted to Actinic front door lights, last night, this Figure of Eight is a garden first. Scarce in SP84, I think this is probably a first record for square SP84J. The light also attracted a rather late, pristine Swallow-tailed moth.

Mompha bradleyi?

 Am I safe in ID'ing this as Mompha bradleyi, without dissection? The Field Guide seems to suggest it would need genitalia examined to separate from divisella, but the "hourglass" is distinctly buff-tinged, rather than pure white, so I can't see it being the latter. I have had bradleyi here before (gen det), plus divsella looks very unlikely per the the atlas.

Thanks

Phil T

Too worn to ID?

 Hi there,

This rather unexpectedly turned up last night. Can those more experienced that me make anything of it?

Many thanks,

David

Mine on Comfrey

 I found this leaf-edge roll on Comfrey yesterday. It looks almost identical to that of Parornix devoniella, but the nearest hazel is ~5m away, and as far as I can tell, (the top leaves are not accessible), there are none of the blotch mines of that species on it. There appears to be nothing that mines Comfrey that creates such a roll, so a bit of a puzzle! The roll is 3cm long, and empty apart from frass at one end, (the left hand end in the image below.)

Westcott, Bucks

New arrivals for the 2024 garden list have tailed off significantly now and there are very few species left which are guaranteed to put in an appearance this year, Sprawler, Scarce Umber and December Moth (as well as Winter Moth which was seen back in January) being the only ones that spring to mind.  Added over the past two weeks have been:  

     (1st)  Merveille du Jour

     (3rd)  Brick

     (4th)  Acleris sparsana

     (5th)  Figure of Eight, Yellow-line Quaker

     (7th)  Musotima nitidalis, Feathered Thorn, Scarce Bordered Straw

     (9th)  November Moth

     (15th)  Pale November Moth

November Moth (genitalia checked), Westcott 9th October

Figure of Eight, Westcott 5th October

Merveille du Jour, Westcott 1st October

There have also been a few "seasonal firsts" recently of moth species already recorded post-hibernation much earlier in the year but which have appeared again now as freshly-emerged specimens.  They include Satellite (3rd October), Chestnut (5th), Dark Chestnut (6th), Grey Shoulder-knot (12th) & Cypress Carpet (14th), while Red-green Carpet has been seen regularly in the traps since 22nd September.  The first Mottled Umber of the winter appeared last night (15th).

Cypress Carpet, Westcott 14th October

Mottled Umber, Westcott 15th October

One or two late individuals of summer species have visited the traps, the most unexpected of which was Chocolate-tip (1st October).  This was very unusual and may be an attempt at a third brood because the last example I saw was way back on 19th July.  Yellow-tail (6th), Dark Arches (14th) & Copper Underwing (15th) were somewhat less remarkable, but sightings of Neocochylis molliculana (7th & 9th) were my latest ever records for that species.

Neocochylis molliculana, Westcott 7th October

The only obvious migrants of late have comprised Plutella xylostella (2nd, 6th, 15th), Udea ferrugalis (2nd, 15th), Scarce Bordered Straw (7th) and Palpita vitrealis (14th), but Delicate has appeared almost nightly in the garden throughout this period (17 individuals) and I suspect many of them will be migrants because there has been quite an influx at coastal sites.  However, as has already happened with White-point, Delicate is a species which I believe may also be in the process of becoming established in our area.  There was another sighting here of Plumed Fan-foot (8th), this time during the day when it was disturbed from vegetation, and it may or may not have been a migrant.

Palpita vitrealis, Westcott 14th October

Lunar Underwing appears to be on the way out here now and to date I've managed 749 individuals since the first one on 15th September.  That might seem quite respectable but it is actually not a particularly good total for the garden because in eleven of the past 20 years the moth has achieved counts of more than 1,000 of which three have been over 2,000.  An oddity on 4th October was a noticeably tiny (but fully formed) example of Pink-barred Sallow which came to light here, having a forewing length of just 10mm.  It is shown below next to a normal sized specimen.   

Pink-barred Sallows, Westcott 4th October

A bit more casual searching for leaf-mines in the garden over the last couple of days has produced a number of new species for 2024, including vacated examples of Stigmella luteella (on birch) & Stigmella regiella (on hawthorn) as well as active mines of Stigmella microtheriella (on hornbeam), Ectoedemia intimella (on sallow), Ectoedemia occultella (on birch) and Tischeria ekebladella (on our very young oak).  I was particularly pleased to find Ectoedemia intimella, the mine being on a fallen leaf of narrow-leaved sallow Salix cinerea.  The species has only been recorded here once before, ten years ago, and again it was an active mine on a fallen leaf but on that occasion of Crack Willow Salix fragilis.  That particular tree is unfortunately no longer with us because it started to collapse in high winds three or four years ago so I thought I'd lost all its associated leaf-miners.  

Active mine of Ectoedemia intimella, Westcott 11th October

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks

With apologies...a few more mines for ID

 

After ploughing through both volumes of Micro-moth Field Tips, I am still struggling to identify these mines found this afternoon, so some help would be appreciated. (It feels a bit like when I started trying to identify micros!).

The first two examples are on birch, on the underside of the leaf, and both have active larvae in them, but I can only just see the head moving, so no detail.

The next two are on hazel and appear to be vacated--images of both upper and lower surfaces. Both have a mine in the body of the leaf, plus an edge folded over. My guess for these is Parornix devoniella.

The final mine is on beech, and here my guess is Stigmella tityrella

Thanks

Phil T

Evidence of Choreutis pariana?

Is this evidence of Choreutis pariana? The leaf is from an apple tree, and the mined area is translucent. The leaf edge is curled over as shown in the second image. There are very few images of the mine online, but those I have found do not appear to be on the edge of the leaf like this. As it's not a species I have seen here, and it doesn't seem that common in the region, I strongly suspect it is not!

Thanks

Phil T

Whizz Pop Bang!

I don't know how many of our blog's households subscribe to Whizz Pop Bang!, which calls itself the Awesome Science Magazine for Kids, but it's encouraging to see that its Emmi's Eco Club column features a DIY children's moth trap. I warned the parent who tipped me off that it isn't the best time of the year to start light-trapping but apparently they've run it as part of a Hallowe'en, world of darkness theme. Anyway, it can always be set aside until the Spring.  Or maybe they'll get a Porter's Rustic. Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Another Snowberry mine

 Checking the Snowberry in my garden again today, I found the mine pictured below which this time I think looks good for Phyllonorycter trifasciella. The leaf is strongly distorted and there are creases on the underside of the mine, both features mentioned in Micro-moth Field Tips. 

I am reluctant to open the mine in case pupation has not yet occurred, but I suspect that, if it is this species, then if I retain it, it may well emarge in a month or so?

Thanks

Phil T

Caloptilia honoratella iRecord frustration!

 I attempted--and failed--to upload a batch of records to iRecord from a .csv file today. For some reason it would not recgnise Caloptilia honoratella, and the species was not in the dropdown list. Yet there are records in iRecord of Caloptilia honoratella, so it's a mystery why it wouldn't acccept it. 

As there is no option to drop a species at this stage in the upload process, rather than start all over again and remove it from the spreadsheet, I decided to change it to a random Caloptilia species that was on the list and delete it later. However I never got the opportunity to do so as the server failed to respond in time, so nothing got uploaded. What a waste of time!

 

Ypsolopha sequella check

 Just checking that this is Ypsolopha sequella rather than vittella.

Also from last night a nicely coloured Carcina quercana

Andy Newbold, Sibford Ferris, Oxon.

Mines of Royal Leaf-miner (Phyllonorycter pastorella) in Bucks

I recently found a mine of the Royal Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter pastorella near Peterborough.  I noticed the scarcity of records across the Upper Thames area (albeit only records up to 2022) and thought I would have a look for it locally.

Phyllonorycter pastorella mines long-leaved willows such as Hybrid Crack-Willow Salix x fragilis, Crack-Willow Salix fragilis, Weeping Willow Salix x sepulcralis and White Willow Salix alba.  

I had a short walk around Hughenden Park this morning, and found several mines on three different looking willows.

Phyllonorycter pastorella on Weeping Willow Salix x sepulchralis.

Phyllonorycter pastorella on Hybrid Crack Willow Salix x fragilis

Phyllonorycter pastorella on Crack-Willow type Salix fragilis agg.

The first record of this species was from Buckingham Palace gardens in 2014.  It seems to be spreading quickly with records of mines from Kent west to Oxfordshire and north to Nottinghamshire. 

If you have long-leaved willows nearby (they usually occur near water) it is worth checking them out.   It is a lower surface mine extending from the centre vein to the leaf edge and with a single strong crease.  Pupation in the mine in a flimsy cocoon and frass in the opposite corner.

Neil Fletcher
Walter's Ash VC24

A second record of Porter's Rustic in Upper Thames region

Recently Paul Black got in touch to pass on the exciting news that he had recorded the first ever Porter's Rustic (Athetis hospes) in Berkshire, only the second record for Upper Thames as a whole, after Richard Ellis's in 2008 on the eastern edge of Buckinghamshire.

Paul found the moth on 24 September in Leckhampstead, while trapping in a pumpkin field - a habitat I had not previously considered targeting for moths!

If anyone is lucky enough to find another one it is worth checking that the hind wings are bright white with darkened cilia at the tip. A rather similar species, Athetis lepigone, has been found in the UK this year, I think as an immigrant to the east coast. It has the hind wings a duller grey with darkened veins, as shown on the Lepiforum site.

Porter's Rustic, Berkshire, photo by Paul Black

Porter's Rustic, Berkshire, photo by Paul Black

Porter's Rustic, Berkshire, Paul's specimen, photo by Martin Harvey

Westcott, Bucks

Apart from 19th-21st when I was away, two traps continued to be run in the garden throughout this period.  However, from 29th September onwards I substituted a second twin-30wt actinic for the 125wt MV which has now been "retired" until 2025.  Not only does that give the neighbours a rest from the bright light, but actinic tends to out-perform MV here during the winter months.  Looking to the future, I'll probably have to rethink the garden operation in three or four years time when my stock of 30wt bulbs runs out.  I've been in the habit of changing them annually because, unlike MV bulbs, they do tend to lose their effectiveness after a while.  Just like 125wt MV bulbs, the manufacture of 30w T8 actinic tubes of the necessary length (450mm) is no longer permitted in the UK and Europe so replacements have already become exceedingly difficult to get hold of.  

On the final night of September the combined catch from the two traps comprised 218 moths of 26 species, including Large Yellow Underwing (39) and Lunar Underwing (86), which is much as expected for the time of year.  Newcomers for the 2024 year-list are still trickling in and adult moths added during the second half of September were as follows:

     (17th)  Plutella porrectella

     (18th)  Pink-barred Sallow, Dusky-lemon Sallow

     (22nd)  Amblyptilia punctidactyla, Mallow, Beaded Chestnut, Blair's Shoulder-knot

     (23rd)  Caloptilia stigmatella, Epermenia chaerophyllella, Green-brindled Crescent, Barred Sallow

     (24th)  Pine Carpet, Large Ranunculus

     (25th)  Brindled Green

     (26th)  Red-line Quaker

Caloptilia stigmatella, Westcott 23rd September

Plutella porrectella, Westcott 17th September

Epermenia chaerophyllella, Westcott 23rd September

Mallow, Westcott 22nd September

Large Ranunculus, Westcott 24th September

Blair's Shoulder-knot, Westcott 22nd September

Large Ranunculus is a really good record here, this being the first since 2019 and only the sixth ever recorded in the garden.  Other moths of interest over this period included Lilac Beauty (17th and a late example on the 30th), Delicate (25th and 30th) and Dark Sword-grass (30th). 

One unwelcome but interesting development in the garden traps this year has been the number of Hornets seen.  A large Queen appeared on 9th May and then further examples visited between 2nd August and 24th September (22 in all).  This is not a large number compared to what I can expect in woodland at this time of year, where I've had two or three times that total in a single trap, but up until this year Hornets have been an exceedingly rare sight in the garden.  Wasps, on the other hand, are usually around in large numbers during late-summer but this year have been almost non-existent.    

Hornet, Westcott 9th May

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks