The Holy Grail: found....

The adults of this species have been turning up at the back garden trap every July for several years now, giving a strong indication of a breeding population close by. However, I have been searching for years to find the incontrovertible evidence of breeding - the larvae.

So it was that a few weeks ago, I stumbled across this solitary Yponomeuta larva, that looked that little bit different, it being alone also raised my expectations as this species gets all Greta Garbo as it matures, unlike many of its congeners.



 A few days later, pupation and again, cross-referencing images on the Internet (the few I could find anyway) raised my expectations even further, until on Sunday 7th July, the adult emerged confirming my hopes and suspicions and ticking off one of my Holy Grails.

Black and White and Red (Data)

The first Yponomeuta irrorella of the year arrived at the trap on Monday, with further specimens Tuesday and Wednesday.
 


I had been getting worried about this one, as it is an annual visitor (usually about 4 or 5 a year), but perhaps not surprisingly, it is a little late this year. I have loads of spindle adjacent to the garden and given the regular appearance of this moth at the trap, I think it is safe to assume a small breeding population of this rare moth is located nearby. I have not as yet managed to locate any larvae, despite extensive searching.

Dave