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Large Yellow Underwing - Noctua pronuba

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One of the most common visitors to the light trap I have put out in the garden over the past month has been the Large Yellow Under-wing. One morning I counted 25 hiding among the egg boxes, all clinging on determedly, and difficult to displace.  According to the UK Butterfly Conservation in the report "The State of Britains Larger Moths 2013" the incidence of N. pronuba has increased by 186% during the period of 1968-2007 (1). The distribution map from the NBN gateway shows how widely distributed it is. This is a fairly large moth with a wing span up to 60mm. At rest it's not the most spectacular of moths, with a base colour of brown, and few distinguishing markings besides the kidney spots on its wings. However when it flies there's a flash of colour as the forewings spread out and expose the bright orange/yellow colours of the rear wings. As soon as it comes to rest the rear wings are folded away and hidden once more. They rest during the day, but will flash their b

Caddisfly - Halesus radiatus

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Before owning a moth light trap I had not really considered caddis flies as being a frequent visitor to the garden. But over the last few months I found a number skulking among the egg boxes as I empty the light trap in the mornings. Now I struggle enough trying to identify the moths that I catch and release, but caddis flies are even more of a challenge, as they do not seem to attract the attention of the publishing world resulting in a dearth of accessible field guides. There are over 6000 species that have been described worldwide. Of which 199 have been recorded in Britain, but only 3 in Ireland (1). I think that this chap who I found in the light trap a couple of weekends ago is Halesus radiatus, but I'm open to corrections. Caddis Flies are superficially like a moth, and are a distant relative in the evolutionary sense,  but instead of scales on the wings, Caddisflies have a fine coating of hairs. It is this coating of hairs that gives this group of invertebrates it's nam

Rosy Rustic Moth - Hydraecia micacea

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I was able to put the moth trap out again on Sunday evening, hampered previously by the awful weather and being away. Sunday evening was mild and dry, but there was a very light drizzle on Monday morning. So I wasn't setting much hope for a large or varied haul. But as. I started taking out the egg boxes I kept on turning up 21 Large Yellow Underwings, 4 Lesser Yeollow Underwings, a single Double Striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata , a Setaceous Hebrew Charcter ( Xestia c-nigrum ), and a rather non-descript, well at least to me, Rosy Rustic (Hydraecia micacea). More about the others another time, but I have to admit to being intrigued by the name of the Rosy Rustic. As you can see it's not the most colourful of moths with a uniform brown base colour. Even the kidney marks on there wings don't stand out very much. This fairly bland marking and colouration meant it took me a while to identify it. It has a single generation and flies from August through to October. The eggs

Cinnamon Sedge - Limnephilus lunatus.

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The light trap came up with a number of new discoveries the other weekend. One of which stumped me for a while. I was convinced it was a micro moth, but the legs were very hairy and didn't quite fit. Neither did the wings. Well thanks to iSpot I was put straight. It's not a moth, but a Caddisfly. I'm not very good at this! But that said this chap, Limnephilus lunatus is quite attractive, also known as the Cinnamon Sedge. The 'lumatus' comes from the crescent shape on the edge of the wings. It is a well known species, especially among anglers. The larva doesn't use sand or other hard materials for building its case, it uses plant materials only. Most of the information I could find on L lunatus came from angling websites. Caddis flies belong to the Trichoptera, and have been known to fishermen since the advent of fly-fishing and to the entomological for a longer time. Mouffet the author of the first English book on entomology (the 'Theatrum Insectorum') w

Bee Moth - Aphomia sociella

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The other week I found a small moth in the light trap, and I had a little difficulty in finding an identification. It turns out I was being my usual stupid self, and had missed the obvious candidate. The temporary mystery moth turned out to be a Bee Moth, Aphomia sociella. It is also known as the Wax Moth, but this can cause confusion with another species,   Galleria mellonella . So for now we'll just continue to call it the Bee Moth. Now this little chap has quite an interesting life cycle. Bee moths are not very large. And the males and females are different. Females are 33 mm long, have olive-grey forewings with pinkish central area and a large and a small black spots. Males are 35 mm long, have more contrasting colours on their forewings, mainly whitish and brown, with a zigzagging line over the middle.  I think from this description that my visitor on this occasion was a female. The adult moths are nocturnal and can be attracted to light, and my light trap on thi

Buff Arches

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The light trap popped up with a real cracker this weekend when I uncovered a Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides) toward the bottom. The colours and markings are superb. I think is my new favourite. It has one generation with a flight season from Late June through to early August. The larva feed on Brambles, which we have some growing in the hedge, but it has also been reported to feed on raspberry in captivity. And we have raspberry and cultivated blackberry in the veg patch. The NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Gateway distribution map shows that Buff Arches is fairly common in the southern part of the UK (1). 1: https://data.nbn.org.uk/Taxa/NBNSYS0000005725/Grid_Map a

Failed Blackbird Nest

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I've been away for a few days and the boss has sent me a photo of an empty nest. Almost certainly the blackbird nest I blogged about a week ago is now abandoned, not from disturbance but more probably from predation as the nest is empty. Who the predator was is unknown. Unlikely to be a cat as the nest is difficult to get to and doesn't seem to be damaged. Possibly magpies or jackdaws, both of which are in the garden. Maybe even a squirrel, but I've not seen a grey squirrel for some time now.  

A new nest

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Over the past week or so we've noticed increased activity in the hedge right by the patio doors. We've seen blackbirds going into the hedge and making the branches bounce around. Not wanting to disturb any possible nest we've not investigated too closely. After the failed song thrush nest earlier in spring, and the disappointment of seeing the cold eggs left in the nest, we kept away. However, this evening the boss saw the male and female leave the hedge very close to the doors, and then noticed the nest. This evening there are three eggs, I'm not sure if more will be laid. Though most of the reference guides say the clutch can be between 3 and 5. As it's now mid to late June I assume this would be the last nest of the season, though blackbirds can have up to 4 broods a season. Perhaps the mild spring and great summer so far have made it possible. The position of the nest is right at the edge of the hedge where is almost comes to rest against the wall. In fact so cl

Speckled Wood

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It's great when the sun comes out. And along with comes the butterflies. We don't have a large variety visiting the garden, but one that does visit relatively regularly is the Speckled Wood,  Pararge aegeria. Unusually for British butterflies it can over winter as both a larva and pupa (1). During the 19th century the Speckled Wood suffered quite a contraction in its range, but since the 1920's it ha made a recovery. This has continued since the 1980s and may be due to climate change allowing it to spread further north (1). The trend for the Speckled Wood shows a highly significant and generally steady increase, as can be seen from the graph below produced by the UK butterfly Monitoring Scheme (3). The butterfly has a divided distribution in Britain (it occurs throughout Ireland) and it has continued to colonise new areas in both parts of its range during the monitoring period (3). It has a flight season from April through to October, and is often found

Solomon's Seal Sawfly

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Each year our Solomon's Seal ( Polygonatum sp ) i s decimated by small larvae that munch their way through the leaves, leaving only the main leaf rib behind. Last month I finally managed to see the culprit in it's adult form. The Solomon's Seal Sawfly,  Phymatocera aterrima is quite a dapper looking chap. Jet black, with rather crumpled looking wings, just a mite short of 1cm. The adults are active in May and June. I had another look tonight but there are no more hanging around anymore. The photos are not perfect as it was a windy day in May when I took these. The sawflies didn't hang around much either, and were quite active, settling only for a short period before flying off again, usually to the underside of here leaves. Thinking about it now, they may have been laying eggs, so that the next generation of larvae can decimate the plants again this year. It may a little early here in Wales to see the larvae yet, but the photos from last year  below clearly show what th

More moths

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I took the chance and put the moth trap out on Saturday night. The weather forecast predicted that it would be mild and dry, if cloudy. Well it was almost right. There were a few light showers, but nothing like the major thunderstorm and downpour Friday night. So I wasn't sure if there would be much in the trap when I switched it off in he the morning. It turned out to be my best haul so far, with 8 different species - 2 of which escaped before I could take any photos to help with the ID. And it turned out those photos I did take weren't up to much either so I'll only put a couple up on this post. The full list included, excluding the two that got away: Buff Ermine:  Spilarctia luteum Large Yellow Underwing:  Noctua pronuba Heart and Dart:  Agrotis exclamationis Light Brown Apple Moth:  Epiphyas postvittana The Flame:  Axylia putris Mottled Beauty: Alcis repandata This brings the total of moths I've managed to identify in the garden to 19 so far. Not many by some standa

Flame Shoulders and Hook-Tips

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Used the moth trap on Friday night. It was a warm still evening, and so it should have been perfect for moths. Saturday morning I took it carefully into the garage and had a quick peek. At the top of the egg boxes I could clearly see a Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria falcataria) resting and warning me to approach with care. But, being the clumsy oath I am, as I was carefully extracting the box I knocked my elbow on the bench and off he went. Luckily for me it was only to the roof window, but it did mean I had to get the ladder out and balance to get the photograph. This does show the patterning on the wings clearly, as well as the dirt on the window. Although this is a common resident in the UK it is new to me and I'm always excited with anything that the trap manages to, well trap. The NBN Gateway (1) distribution map shows that the Pebble is widely distributed on the mainland. There are two generations in late April - June and July - September. The later genera

Parasitic wasp - Ichneumon stramentor

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On Friday night as I was clearing the kitchen getting ready to sit down and watch a film with the family I came across this fantastic ichneumon wasp. It seemed to be drinking water from the kitchen top and wasn't in any hurry to move off, nor was it disturbed at all by the camera and me fussing about around it. After some detective work on the net, with my books and help from the fantastic experts on iSpot I'm able to confirm it as Ichneumon stramentor. It's about 1.5cm long if I don't include the antennae, and 2cm including the length of the antennae. It has a l ong tapered abdomen, the first half of which is yellow and the rear half black, with yellow spot at the tip (both on the top and beneath. Legs have black femora; tibiae are half yellow blending into brown that exceeds to the tarsi. Black thorax (with yellow spot) and black head. This specimen is a  female as the males have all black antennae. It's flight time is from April through to July.

Moth trapping

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Last weekend I finally got my moth trap out of the garage. This was only it's second outing since I bought it at the end of last year. The first use was almost immediately after unpacking it and assembling it in November. It will come as no surprise to those in the know, that this wasn't a successful trapping initiative. Well the weather was promising a mild and dry night, so I trundled out there with the trap, plugged it in and retreated back to the house - more in hope than expectation. Saturday morning revealed a damp morning, following some light rain earlier. This didn't inspire any confidence, but after an early breakfast I disappeared into the garage armed with the camera and a new copy of my Field Guide to Moths of UK and Ireland. Turning over the first two egg trays revealed only a tiny mired bug, Scolopostethus decorates. It is only about 4mm long and I almost missed it in my expectation of finding hundreds of huge moths. It's normally associated with he