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| Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata) |
The scientific name refers to the yellow ground colour (Xanthia) and the Roman toga (togata) which is suggested by the broad purplish band across the forewings. This is not particularly clear in the photograph above but the arrangement of markings and blotches on the moth's wings are more reliable for identification than the colouring. This moth is common and can be seen all over the county and indeed the country, wherever sallows grow.
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| Pink-barred Sallow (illustration) |
The illustration of the moth in flight was a useful identifier for the collector, if the moth was destined for the display cabinet, but not much use to the naturalist as this was not the resting position. As a little work of art it merits some attention.
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| Rosy Rustic (Hydraecia micacea) |
The Rosy Rustic overwinters as an egg and then the caterpillar emerges in April. It eats a wide variety of plants including Broad-leaved Dock, Field Woundwort, potato, strawberries, and hops by tunneling into the plant stem and descending to the roots. Here it pupates without a cocoon and emerges as an adult to look like it does in the photograph above. For some reason I have to re-learn this moth's name every year..
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| Rosy Rustic (illustration) |
The patterns on the wings of the Rosy Rustic are clearly seen on the illustration of the moth in flight.
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| Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavaga) |
Gortyna is the name of a town in Crete. What memories the name evoked to Ochsenheimer the lepidopterist we may never know but the moth that now carries the name of Gortyna is rather beautiful. The patterns on the wings are consistent and the moth is well distributed throughout the country flying between late August and October. 'Flavaga' is yet another word for 'yellow'.
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| Green-brindled Crescent (Allophyes oxyacanthae) |
I thought the moth on the left was new to the garden. I couldn't recall seeing a species that carried a tiny white saddle-shaped marking at the mid-point on the wings. That is until I saw and recognised the moth on the left - a very nicely marked Green-brindled Crescent which also has the same marking in the same place. This is a good example as to how confusing identification can sometimes be. The variety of markings on the Magpie moth or the Garden Tiger moth are part of why they are delightful but they don't confuse or mislead Had that moth on the right not been there I might still be scratching my head over the mystery of the one on the left. The scientific name? Allophyes means 'changeful'. A lesson learned.
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| Merveille du Jour (Dichonia aprilina) |
What could be more delightful than seeing one Mervielle du Jour in the trap? Two is the answer. Here is that magnificent moth from two angles. Autumn is definitely here when this moth appears.
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| Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) |
On the inside of the tent I found a moth with stitching along the base of its forewings. It seemed the best place to photograph it as it was so obligingly positioned next to the stitch marks of the tent.
It is now time to release the moths from last night's trap.
Below, as an extra for National Moth Night, is an image from Humphreys and Westwood's British Moths and their Transformations pub. in 2 Vols by William Smith of London. 1843. It is a hand-coloured illustration of the recently re-introduced Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala fraxini). The first half of the scientific name Catacola means 'beautiful beneath'; the second half is a reference to the ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) which Linneaus (wrongly) thought was the food plant.
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| Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala fraxini) |
