Paul's Back Garden Safari

Green-Brindled Crescent -  Allophyes oxyacanthae 18th October 2019 October this year has been pretty wet, but mild. So I wasn’t expecting much when I put the moth trap out on a wet but cool evening.  But the next morning there were two individuals a Green-brindled Crescent - Allophyes oxyacanthae , and a Beaded Chestnut - Agrochola lychnidis . I am intrigued each time I look at moths - the cryptic markings and colours can be unusual to our human eye and perceptions of colour until you consider the camouflage they provide. Take the Green-brindled Crescent, the green flashes make it look like it has been "lichenised" when I took it out of the moth trap this morning. But then if it was resting on a tree trunk I am very much certain I wouldn't see it. I can't deny the Beaded Chestnut that kept it company is as interesting, but……   Superficially it is a dull brown species, but the the right light typical form has patches of metallic green scales giving it an attr...

One of the most common visitors to the light trap I have put out in the garden over the past month has been the Large Yellow Under-wing. One morning I counted 25 hiding among the egg boxes, all clinging on determedly, and difficult to displace.  According to the UK Butterfly Conservation in the report "The State of Britains Larger Moths 2013" the incidence of N. pronuba has increased by 186% during the period of 1968-2007 (1). The distribution map from the NBN gateway shows how widely distributed it is. This is a fairly large moth with a wing span up to 60mm. At rest it's not the most spectacular of moths, with a base colour of brown, and few distinguishing markings besides the kidney spots on its wings. However when it flies there's a flash of colour as the forewings spread out and expose the bright orange/yellow colours of the rear wings. As soon as it comes to rest the rear wings are folded away and hidden once more. They rest during the day, but will flash their b...

I was called into the daughter's bedroom last night to rescue a Beautiful plume moth. Though I'm still not sure who I was rescuing from whom! I've always been fascinated by these moths, which when at rest furl up their wings like sails on a ship. It was a fast flying and unpredicatable beast, and difficult to photograph clearly. The Beautiful plume moth,  Amblyptilia acanthadactyla , is one of the commonest plume moths, usually recognisable by the warm rusty brown patches in the dark brown wing tip . I have to admit to have a little difficulty in identifying this for certain. A. acanthadactyla looks very similar to A. punctidactyla, the Brindled plume moth. However, with the help of the expert on iSpot it has been  confirmed  as  A. acanthadactyla. It has two generations each year in July and later in September-April (1). The second generation over winters as an adult. Larval food plants have been listed as hedge woundwort, restharrows, mints, gooseberries, ...