Tuesday 8 September 2015

Herding cats...

Not been blogging for ages but still very active on the Lepidoptera 'hunting'.

To kick start the blog, a few larval finds from this season:

Wormwood (Cucullia absinthii)














Streamer (Anticlea derivata)














Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua)














Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)














Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)

Thursday 12 March 2015

Miner Forty-Niner

Whilst it may be a little behind last year, I am once again on the cusp of 50 species for the year.

The majority of the list is of course made up of early stage micros and miners plus the customary January 1st tick of Raspberry Clearwing galls and larvae.

Raspberry Clearwing (Pennisetia hylaeiformis) larval gall


The usual suspects are also putting in an appearance at the garden trap, with numbers rising steadily over recent days, including Grey Shoulder-knot, Dotted Border, Oak Beauty and Clouded Drab

Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus)

Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) squadron

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) and 2 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)


...and apologies for the dodgy reference to a Scooby Doo villain, couldn't resist given that it's leaf miners that have contributed most significantly to the year total to date...

Ectoedemia  heringella mines on Quercus ilex

Ectoedemia heringella tenanted mines

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Moth montage #2: Gypsonoma dealbana

This time it's the turn of Gypsonoma dealbana.

Gypsonoma dealbana - montage

If you've still got Oak, Sallow or a range of other deciduous leaves on the trees near you, you could still find the larval feeding signs of this species.

Sunday 30 November 2014

Moth montage #1: Acleris rhombana

To while away the winter and stave off moth withdrawal symptoms I am messing around with my moth images to produce a series of montages: first up is Acleris rhombana.

Acleris rhombana - montage

Sunday 16 November 2014

A different sort of Welsh miner: Wales trip - Part II

Following on from last week's post - Wales Trip: Part I - there were also lots of miners to be found around the lovely cottage at Cefn y Waun.  Here's a few from the list:

Stigmella myrtilella on Bilberry
Stigmella myrtillella

Stigmella sorbi on Rowan
Stigmella sorbi leaf mine

Stigmella magdalenae on Rowan
Stigmella magdalenae leaf mine

Phyllonorycter sorbi on Rowan
Phyllonorycter sorbi leaf mine

Stigmella nylandriella on Rowan
Stigmella nylandriella leaf mine

Heliozela resplendella on Alder
Heliozela resplendella

Heliozela hammoniella on Birch
Heliozela hammoniella

Very different to what most people think of in relation to Welsh miners:

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Wales trip: Part I

In late August the family trip this year was to the most beautiful cottage in the Black Mountains - Cefn y Waun. This was the view:

View from Cefn Y  Waun

The moth trap came along and plenty of miner searches were conducted too (more on which in Part II: Welsh miners).

Some of the macros to the trap included:

Grey Chi (Antitype chi)
Grey Chi (Antitype chi)

Bordered Beauty (Epione repandaria)
Bordered Beauty (Epione repandaria)

Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)
Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)

Chevron (Eulithis testata)
Chevron (Eulithis testata)

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)
Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)

Spruce Carpet (Thera britannica)
Spruce Carpet (Thera britannica)





Sunday 9 November 2014

Blogging again - from the Raspberry patch

Hopefully back for a while now, work has been manic and reduced any free time and as such no time to blog.

To start the catching up, a few images from the thriving Raspberry Clearwing colony that is just yards from my garden. This female was successfully reared from a larva plus also managed to assemble a male to her later on.


Raspberry Clearwing (Pennisetia hylaeiformis)

Raspberry Clearwing (Pennisetia hylaeiformis)

Raspberry Clearwing (Pennisetia hylaeiformis) exuvia