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| Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina) |
We welcome another new moth today, putting us at 189 identified
species! I almost overlooked it because its shape and patterns seemed familiar.
But thanks to Dr. Chesmore, it has been confirmed as the Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina). Anaplectoides has
a complicated meaning that has evolved from the moth’s relation to the Aplectoides, a North American breed. The
word plektos (folded) is given because at rest, one wing is
slightly folded over the other. Prasina
(leek-green) describes the color of its forewings, at least until the sun fades
them.
We had some other visitors who’ve been to Shandy Hall
before, but are still beautiful and uncommon. Amongst these was the Burnished
Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) which caused
quite a stir as I tried to position it for the camera. Its name is remarkably
fitting for its appearance: Diachrysia means
‘interwoven with gold’ and chrysitis means
‘like gold’. While this may seem redundant, the name is fitting because its
eye-catching metallic wings often warrant a double take.
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| Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) |
The Small Magpie (Eurrhypara
hortulata) was much more cooperative. It held still with its
Dalmatian-spotted wings fanned out, revealing the sunshine yellow details of
its body. This summery species was likely attracted to the nettles and apple-trees
in our gardens. Accordingly, it gets the name hortulata, meaning garden or orchard. Eurrhypara seems less valid: eu
means ‘well’ and rhuparos means
‘greasy’. Feel free to disagree, but the Small Magpie to the left doesn’t look
very greasy to me.
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| Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata) |
The Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae) also graced us with its presence. Although
it has been here in the past, I couldn’t help myself from taking its
photograph. In fact, the moth itself must know how beautiful it is… you can see
how it faces its own reflection in the wall of the trap!
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| Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae) |
As usual, we had an abundance of Carpets, Ermines, Common
Swifts, Beautiful Golden Y's, and a few Heart and Darts. Hopefully the stormy
weather breaks tonight so that our streak can continue.
Important! Moth Night 2012 is this weekend. The organizers (Atropos, Butterfly Conservation, and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) are asking moth trappers across the nation to report on the contents of their traps for at least one night of this weekend. It will vastly improve their database, which is so useful for all of us moth enthusiasts. More information can be found here.
Post by Helen Levins
