...especially when they are the subject of rather shabby treatment and neglect, such as the unfortunate individual shown below. It was caught on Tuesday night (6/9) but, by yesterday morning when it was photographed, it had sadly succumbed though all the other moths in the same refrigerated `batch` were fine and have mostly now gained their freedom after identification etc.
Above: my second recent vestal, with a slightly darker stripe than the one caught on 26/8.
There were fair numbers (c 20 or so) of silver y`s in the trap on Tuesday, but less on Wednesday (7/9) when two dark sword grasses turned up.
Above: Wednesday`s two dark sword-grasses.
Above: this
Pyrausta despicata was probably wind-blown from nearby coastal grassland on Weds. It escaped as I placed it on a more appropriate background for a better photo.
Above: on Wednesday, I placed one battery-fed actinic next to some cypress trees close to the bottom of my next-door neighbours` garden and was rewarded by this cypress pug, a moth which I`ve recorded before in the same spot. I also had a cypress carpet at the same location earlier this year.
Above: I was pleased to catch this micro, which I believe is
Caloptilia azaleella. I had deliberately planted some Azaleas in the hope of attracting this moth and it seems to have worked. It is quite smaller than the other
Caloptilia spp.
Postscript: I`m a bit unsure now that it is
azaleella - it is certainly small but its markings are n`t fool-proof. I`m keeping the specimen for now and I will update/change this paragraph in due course.
See Comments section below.
Above: On Tuesday, I also left a mains-fed actinic in the garden of my late parents` house on the western outskirts of Llanelli (right next to Stradey Woods). I was again pleased to catch this moth, a brindled green, which I don`t think I`ve caught before perhaps because that I have not trapped frequently enough in `oakey` situations at the right time of the year. New Carmarthenshire moth enthusiast Jane Hand at Rhandirmwyn (where there`s an abundance of oak) has also caught a brindled green recently.
Above: I also caught this wainscot at the latter site. I thought on immediate inspection that it might be a smoky wainscot but it did n`t `look right`. Checking of the hind wings suggests that it is a common wainscot (not particularly common in Carms) with pure-white hind wings.
I`ve still got some other moths to check from Tuesday and Wednesday nights but the sprinkling of `good` moths among the hordes of large yellow underwings demonstrates that there`s still plenty of (moth) life left in the 2016 season.
For those of you who have noticed, apologies for the play on `empty vessels...` in the title!
It seems very late but I'm pretty sure that's a faded shore wainscot
ReplyDeleteAnd the Caloptilia doesn't look right for azaleella as you suspect. Looks like robustella/alchimiella.
ReplyDeleteThanks George re the wainscot. I (incorrectly) dismissed shore wainscot early on due to the date; likewise the book said an earlier flight period for robustella/alchemiella...very misleading. I`d noticed that the Caloptilia did n`t fit azaleella marking-wise on my second inspection (hence my comments of doubt in the main text) though it is small (perhaps later ones are?).
ReplyDeleteI`ve just checked the flight period for shore wainscot and it is said to occur rarely in October too...it`s an odd season - I had a beautiful carpet on Tues (supposed to fly until `early Aug`!). Shore is a better record for the wainscot though!
Madly, I trapped in the heavy rain last night (Fri) but nothing of note.