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| Brown Silver-line (Petrophora chlorosata) |
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| Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) |
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| Pseudargyrotoza conwagana |
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| Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalassina) |
- Post by Jane Wu
14 June 2013 - Old to Shandy Hall, new to you.
The past few days have brought in greater numbers and variety of moths than we've seen thus far this summer, though we're still not seeing the hundreds that should be appearing. The weather has started turning cloudy again, and yesterday brought in a bit of rain. We've caught a number of new micro-moths, most of which have proven difficult to identify. I have documented all of them and am waiting to see if Dr. Chesmore has more insight into what they may be. The rest have all been seen at Shandy Hall before, though a few have not yet been featured in our blog.
This Brown Silver-line (Petrophora chlorosata) blends in quite nicely with the wood that it decided to land on. Petros 'a rock' and phoreo 'to bear' describe the stone-colored band on the forewing. Khloros 'pale green or simply pale' refer to the light ground color on the forewing.
The Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) deceived me the first time I attempted to identify it. It apparently often has two different resting positions: one with the forewings extended so the observer can see the underwing, as in the picture taken, and one with the forewings closed over the underwing so it has a triangular shape. The paintings in my identification book only showed it with wings closed. Loma 'a border' and graphe 'a drawing' indicate the dark markings on the end of the forewings. Temero 'to pollute, stain' describes the smudges that stain the white of the wing, like dark ink clouds on a white background.
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana is a micro-moth identifiable by the yellow blotch in the center of the wings when it is in resting position. Pseudos in Greek is 'a falsehood.' Argurotoxos is the 'bearer of the silver bow,' an epithet of Apollo. Adults in both Pseudargyrotoza and Argyrotoza have similar submetallic silver scales on their wings, though are of two separate genera. Members of the Argyrotoza genus, also referred to under the name Croesia, are now classified under the Acleris genus, among others. Conwagana was named after Conway, a British entomologist who was a friend of and collected with Fabricius, who named the micro-moth.
Tonight is the National Gardens Scheme event at Shandy Hall with moth trapping and identification. This Pale-shouldered Brocade (Lacanobia thalissina) was found this morning and can be seen at the event. It has a wonderful pattern on its wings and is distinguished from other brocades by its lighter shoulder patches. Lacanobia is a typographical error for Lachanobia. Lakhana means 'vegetables' or 'greens' and bioo 'to live.' The genus used to contain more species, including some vegetable-eaters. Thalassinus is interpreted as 'sea-colored' or 'sea-like.' Sea-colored because of the reddish brown forewings, which in turn may relate to Homer and the wine-dark sea. The wavy line near the bottom of the wings adds to the oceanic references.
- Post by Jane Wu
- Post by Jane Wu
