9 September 2012 - Rhomboid Tortrix

Rhomboid Tortrix (Acleris rhombana)

The name is too good to disregard.  Named after the parallelogram shape on the forewing, this moth displays the most intricate net-like pattern of intersecting lines.  The apex of the wings is also pointed - a diagnostic that should indicate the identification is accurate. The Rhomboid Tortrix can be found all over the UK and the food plants include a wide range of trees and shrubs.  It is a new species for the garden and is the 241st visitor.

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)

 The Centre-barred Sallow has been recorded before, but not photographed.  It is a tiny piece of autumn slightly ahead of its time.  The Latin name encourages a digression - ethmia means 'spotted', in the way a colander or a sieve is spotted or sprinkled with dots; atethmia means 'unspotted'.  So this moth differs from Ethmia pyrausta ('a moth that gets singed in the candle') by not being spotted. Search UK moths by putting ethmia in the search box and you will see some very spotted examples. Whether the logic of the nomenclature becomes clear I will leave to you.

4 October 2013 - Golden Golden Yellow

Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago)

I had a feeling this moth was new but there are so many autumnal-coloured moths it is hard to be sure.  The Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago) and Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata) have both been recorded at Shandy Hall and the Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago) - golden and yellow (aurum and xanthos) - makes up the third of this group.  The others - Orange Sallow, Dusky-lemon Sallow, Pale-yellow Sallow, Angle-striped Sallow and Sallow itself - are yet to appear.  Some are scarce but all appear on the 'flying tonight' site for Yorkshire moths so we live in hope.
The illustration below is again from British Moths and their Transformations Westwood J.O (illustrations by Humphreys, H.N) 1843 and shows the Barred Sallow in flight. 
The weather has now turned to violent rain so a tough night ahead for insects.

18 August 2018 - Back to the Trap

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)

I am not certain how the weather has affected moth-trapping nationally this year.  Numbers are certainly down in the gardens at Shandy Hall - particularly those members of the variety known as 'underwing'.  Perhaps it is too early to say. August is supposed to be the  warmest month in the UK so perhaps there might be an increase in their numbers.  
We have trapped and recorded a number of the Sallow family over the years and the arrival of these tawny-winged insects seems to be the herald of a change in the seasons.  The Centre-barred Sallow in the photograph is as fresh as a daisy and one of the easiest to identify.  After over-wintering as an egg (laid on a twig or a crevice in the bark of an ash tree) the caterpillar lives inside a bud.  As it develops it spends the day hiding at the base of the tree, emerging at dusk and climbing at speed to feed on the leaves higher up the trunk.  The larva spins a cocoon beneath the ground and the pupa hatches after a few weeks.  How any of them survive is beyond me.

Feathered Gothic (Tholera decimalis)

A pair of Feathered Gothics - one male and one female. My ideal photograph would show the feathery antennae of the male and the simple, single strand of the female but when I tried to  position them accordingly they became animated and started rapid little runs in unpredictable directions.  The female is the upper one in the image - the slight curve to the forewing helps in identification.  This moth survives the winter as an egg after the female has broadcast eggs from the air onto the grassland beneath - rather like the swift moth family.  The larva grows and feeds on Sheep's fescue grass and the adult emerges in late July, which is why this pair look so freshly made.

                                                 Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea)                                                        

The third species is just a particularly good example of a Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea) which is found throughout the county and is common nationally.

Gabriella has now returned to the University of Pennsylvania.  She was a bonus to the moth world at Shandy Hall and we send her thanks for her diligence, care and dependability.