Showing posts with label Barred sallow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barred sallow. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Knots landing

A cloudy night was forecast, so out went the trap. I had attracted a Barred Sallow to my porch the night before and given Graham's productive session felt there may be something new in the offing. I was right. Three new species for me, and two new ones for us in the Strettons. Well, sort of, as one of the moths I cannot identify to exact species, but more of that later.

Before I went to bed I checked around the trap and was pleasantly surprised to find a Grey Shoulder-knot. This was not a moth on my radar, so was a very nice surprise. It is a good looking moth, as I am sure you will agree.

Grey Shoulder-knot

When I opened the trap this morning there were another ten moths in the trap. This included the usual suspects, a couple of Flounced Rustics and four Lunar Underwings, along with two Eudonia angustea, which is a micro moth that I regularly catch.

There was also a Satellite, a moth that Graham has caught a few of in recent weeks, but the first time I have recorded it. I also had an Epiritta species, a group of moths which includes three very similar species - November Moth, Pale November Moth and Autumnal Moth. Of the three, the November Moth is the most likely to occur, but all are possible and there appears to be some debate as to how easy it is to distinguish the different species. On well-marked individuals the forewing markings can help, whilst males can be identifed through their genitalia when viewed under a hand lens. Alas, my specimen was a poorly-marked  female, so it has gone down as November Moth agg. for my records, unless Graham can shed some more light!

November Moth agg.

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Cool, real cool!

Yes, a cool night in more ways than one, as, in the trap, there were 3 new species for the site, amongst 27 moths of 13 species.

There were two different sallows, a Pink-barred Sallow and a Barred Sallow (and I know Mike had one of these as well) I had Centre-barred Sallow and The Sallow last month. Lunar Underwings are considered as Sallows too.

Pink-barred Sallow
Barred Sallow












Then there were 2 Green-brindled Crescents - moths with a subtle shade of metallic green which is not always obvious - and there is a  more plain brown version, which I have never seen.

Green-brindled Crescent