21 June 2012 - A Wet Welcome

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.

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.

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!

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

19 June 2018 - National Moth Nights

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

Last weekend was National Moth Night, an annual three-day Lepidopterist extravaganza. At Shandy Hall, we celebrated by trapping on both Thursday and Saturday night –not an unusual occurrence, but done with a bit more zeal this time.
In our first trap on Thursday, we had quite a few stunners! 

Although the Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) is rather common in Britain, it is an unequivocal beauty. It gets its scientific name from the way that it quivers before taking flight. Resting, this moth has plicate wings (meaning that they are folded like a fan), which Linnaeus felt was its way of shrinking into itself, as if fearful.

Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina)

We were graced with another grassy sojourner, this time a Green Arches Moth (Anaplectoides prasina). This moth is a beautiful deep emerald with complex etchings on its forewings. The one pictured here is in near perfect condition, although its plethora of color and intricate markings make it tricky to focus a camera on.

Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata)

The Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata) has been featured on the blog on a number of occasions, and it’s no wonder as it is a very pretty and striking moth. In Humphreys & Westwood, the entire life cycle of this moth is depicted, from caterpillar to chrysalis to moth. I’ll only include the illustration of the adult moth in this blog, however, because drawings of larvae and an oblong don’t make for particularly thrilling content.

Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)

On Saturday night there was a storm earlier in the evening, but thankfully it cleared up just in time to set the trap. Here a worn Flame shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) clings to a paintbrush. Its name comes from its pale costal streak and literally means “pale twisted rope.” Its picture in Humphreys & Westwood beautifully showcases this beam of light on its shoulder.  I've added another image (directly below) of one that was photographed from the first trap to show how the colours are much richer when the insect is freshly hatched.

Flame Shoulder (Ochhropleura plecta)

Flame Shoulder (illustration)

And an illustration to show the moth in flight.

Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

A prime Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) was in the trap as well; a sophisticated and understated moth.

Post by: Gabriella Morace [UPenn intern]

Moth Night - 10 July 2021

Small Yellow Wave (Hydrelia flammeolaria)

 

Only one of the three evenings designated for National Moth Night was really suitable for trapping but that one gave a good cross-section of species.  A newcomer to moth-trapping (like ten year old Thomas was) saw moths that displayed a wide variety of forms, colours and patterns.  

The Small Yellow Wave (Hydrelia flammeolaria) and the Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina) have only been seen a couple of times so it is good to be reminded of their presence. The scientific name seems a bit of a contradiction - 'watery flame' but the flammeolaria refers to the ochre coloured stripes that decorate the wings of this species.

Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina)

 

The Green Arches was looking particularly fresh and the clear, green colouring indicates that it is probably recently emerged from the pupa.  The caterpillar feeds on honeysuckle, bilberry and primroses.

A list of moths identified in the trap included:  

Common Wainscot, Garden Grass Veneer, Poplar Hawk-moth, Large Emerald, Swallow-tailed Moth, Orange Swift, Acleris laterana, Yellow-tail, Common Footman, Beautiful Hook-tip, Small Fan-foot, Light Emerald, Bright-line Brown-eye, Flame, Burnished Brass, Green Pug, Brindled Pug, Marbled Minor, Clay, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Snout, Barred Straw, Double Square Spot, Plain Golden Y, Beautiful Golden Y, Blood-vein. 

4 July 2016 - National Moth Scheme

Dave Chesmore identifying moths

“If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” So I was told by Dave Chesmore, who kindly showed up on National Garden Scheme Day to help us identify moths caught the previous night. It was a perfect description of the schizophrenic shuffle between pouring rain and blinding sun we have been getting. We had decided to set two traps instead of one to ensure the best variety and number. During one of the longer sunny spells, some twenty people hovered around the trap to see what we had managed to attract.

Figure of 80 (Tethea ocularis octogesimea)

A total of 26 species were identified and passed around the group. Beautiful and Plain Golden Y, Heart and Dart, Buff Ermine, Marbled Minor, Middle-barred Minor, and Silver-ground Carpet came in multiples. Just starting to pick up in numbers – Large yellow-underwing, Garden Grass Veneer, Light Emerald, and Common Wave. And the rest of our showstoppers – Barred Straw, Snout, Brimstone Moth, Silver Y, Small Fanfoot, Peppered Moth, Willow Beauty, Buff Arches, Flame, Common Swift, Burnished Brass, Figure of Eighty, and Flame Shoulder. A Ghost Moth was found in the tent over our trap in the top garden that morning but did not stay long enough to meet the crowd’s gaze.

The Figure of Eighty (Tethea ocularis octogesimea) is one of the moths that I remember from my first look at the Lewington illustrated field guide. Everything about this moth (except perhaps the photograph above which I took of the markings - at the worst possible angle) seems to be in service of the ‘80’: the subdued sepia ground color, the central cross-lines that sandwich the number, the scientific name octogesimus meaning ‘eightieth’, and the cylindrical resting position, all point to the figure in white. It is described as having a rosy tint, which is much faded in our sample.

Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

A pageant is brought on by our two Beauties. The Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata) is new to me and makes a good comparison to the Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria), which has an outer cross-line that is more zigzag toward the leading edge and splits into tiny dots on each vein. The Mottled Beauty, in contrast, has a smoother outer cross-line that dips twice as it goes toward the leading edge, forming a fat W. The Mottled Beauty was one of the few that visited our trap in the top garden, quite some distance from its cousin the Willow Beauty in the quarry trap. The former also flies earlier in the season (June-July). Despite their resemblance, the two actually belong to different genus: Alcis is the name of a daughter of Aegyptus, the Egyptian king who was born to the heifer maiden, lo, and the river-god Nilus; she had 50 brothers. Peribatodes is from ‘peri’ which means ‘round’ and ‘batōdēs’, overgrown with thorns, probably describing its habitat.

Green Arches (illustration)

Also new to me is the Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina). As the name prasina (leek-green) suggests, its brilliant green color stands out against the clay ochre of the others. It was first recorded here in 2012 by Helen Levins and made another appearance last year around this time. I could have sworn I snapped an image of it for identification but later realized that that was done in my head, not on the camera…So, to make up for it, here (above) is an illustration of our moth under the name Polia herbida.


Post: Tung Chau (UPenn)