At long last the moth numbers have picked up, more species and larger catches. Alli Singleton and I are finding something ‘new’ to us in nearly every moth trapping session we do, it helps enormously that we are able to trap in different locations and we try to encourage the hosts to get involved. At the moment catches are up in the hundreds depending where we trap. In one trap backing onto Grouville Marsh the catch 565 moths of 140 species.
Why would you need rings with these beauties on your hand? Two Privet Hawk-moths, two Elephant Hawk-moths (pink) and one Poplar Hawk-moth, they were in transit to a couple of trees.
Wainscots are probably a little over-looked, they are mostly brown with subtle markings. The Shoulder-striped Wainscot was a first for us and we have since caught a few more Shoulder-striped at different locations.
In my own little garden, it is still possible to find ‘New For Garden’ moths. This was a new moth for me as was the Miller (so called because it looks like it is covered with a dusting of flour).
A moth (I didn’t know which one) had laid some eggs in one of the chicken egg trays we put in the traps. I noticed they had progressed to tiny larvae so decided to pot them up and feed them a variety of leaves (some larvae are quite fussy about food plants). They were given salad and basil which they munched through at an alarming rate. For a long while they were tiny little green things, they they started developing hairs (see one in background of photograph) and eventually got to a stage where I could identify the caterpillars which turned out the be Buff Ermine. They eat a wide range of herbaceous plants, especially Common Nettle and woody species including honeysuckle and birches. They have been relocated to the allotment where I hope their appetites can deal with the nettle patch. Looking at the photograph, they look rather like something the Nation Trust would leave on a chair to deter you from sitting down.
Author – Kim Koester – Entomology Section
