NFY micro smorgasbord

The hot weather this week has been excellent for trapping in the garden and dusking nearby, with a nice variety of new for year species added to the list:

Caryocolum blandella


Nemapogon ruricolella


Gypsonoma dealbana


Euzophera pinguis


Lobesia abscisana


Epagoge grotiana


Acleris holmiana


Dave

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

ella, ella, ella....

Not trendy enough to be a reference to a track from Rihanna but just noted that most of the new for year micros in the garden this week had one thing in common...

Dichomeris marginella


Phycitodes binaevella


Tinea semifulvella


Nomophila noctuella


Blastodacna hellerella


Acrobasis advenella


Dave

Of galls, blotches, folds and galleries

...just some of the guises of various early stages found in recent days:

Stigmella speciosa on Sycamore


Stigmella ruficapitella on Oak

Stigmella salicis on Goat Willow

Lyonetia clerkella on Silver Birch

Phyllonorycter hilarella/dubitella on Goat Willow

Mompha raschkiella on Rosebay Willowherb

Mompha sturnipennella on Rosebay Willowherb
 

Dave

More rearing success

Another couple of micros successfully reared through:

Mompha epilobiella


Early stages detailed in earlier blog post:
http://kentmicromoths.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/early-stages-mompha-epilobiella.html

Epermenia chaerophylella


Early stages detailed in earlier blog post:
http://kentmicromoths.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/early-stages-epermenia-chaerophyllella.html

Dave

Dusking and the Playboy Bunny

Quite a productive evening dusking along hedgerows by the house yesterday with a few micros and plenty of mines.

Catch included Ypsolopha sequella which when viewed dorsally, has markings just like the Playboy Bunny, or so I am told!

Ypsolopha sequella




Other finds included:

Nemapogon clematella


Spilonota ocellana


Phyllonorycter corylifoliella leaf mine on Hawthorn


Parornix scoticella leaf mine and fold on Whitebeam


Dave

The strange case of...

Coleophora siccifolia


Found this on Hawthorn next to the back garden yesterday whilst mine sweeping.  This one certainly fits into the 'weird' case category; it just looks so scruffy compared to many of its congeners.




It is also a very large case in comparison to many others and creates very large blotches; it was this latter feature that drew me to its location in the first place.

All in all very pleased with what is a new case for me and a very scarce moth here in Kent (although undoubtedly under-recorded).

Dave

Meanwhile, back at the mines...

More and more miner finds almost daily now wherever I look - parks, gardens, hedgerows etc etc.

Here's some of the latest to keep an eye out for:

First two, Phyllonorycter esperella on Hornbeam


Also on Hornbeam, Stigmella floslactella


Next two, Parornix anglicella on Hawthorn


Next two, Stigmella plagicolella on Blackthorn


Phyllonorycter coryli on Hazel


Dave

Spots before my eyes

Another great night in the garden with over 70 species in and around the trap this morning.  Plenty of new ones for the year but the highlight came in monochrome: Ethmia terminella, a lifer and in the garden, well chuffed to say the least.



With the amount of moths at the trap this morning this was first rapidly potted up without so much as a second glance, no doubt later to be recorded as Yponomeuta sp.

However, on removal from the fridge and then examining the images more closely something didn't quite add up: black dots along the termen, small number of large dots on the wings, dots on the thorax, grey wash to the dorsum and costa, surely this had to be E. terminella.


Dave

A rich seam at the mine

Well peak season for miners seems to be taking off now, half an hour or so scouring hedges close to the house at the weekend yielded, amongst others the following:

Antispila metallella on Dogwood: tenanted and vacated (showing cut-out)


Stigmella malella on Apple - tenanted


Stigmella lemniscella on Elm


Phyllonorycter blancardella on Apple (upperside and underside)


Callisto denticulella - tenanted


Lyonetia clerkella - quite a few of these


Dave