21 October 2013

20 October 2013 – Rush Veneer

Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella)

Ten minutes after putting out the trap (warm evening, no wind, bats flying, owls hooting, moon conveniently below the horizon) came the most tremendous downpour.  The light was quickly extinguished, for I am not certain it will tolerate torrential rain, and then re-set an hour later.  This morning a Feathered Thorn, a (small) Golden Y, a Dark Sword-grass, a Green-brindled Crescent, half a dozen bouncy saw-flies and a wasp seemed to be the total catch.  However, perched on the last egg-box was a moth I hadn’t seen before. All five reference books were consulted along with UK moths, Essex moths, Norfolk moths (all on-line and all excellent) and the moth that seemed most likely was a Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella).  The antennae were certainly swept back over the folded and slightly rolled wings, but I couldn’t distinguish the strong markings that appear in the available images. The emphasis was on the narrowness of the wings in all the recorded descriptions and that seemed to be the determining factor. Dave Chesmore confirmed the above photograph – where the markings seem to have been picked up by the macro lens, although not clear to the naked eye. 

Nomophila (lover of pastures) and noctuella (of the night) is the Latin translation.  In 1843 the moth was Nomophila hybridalis so there’s another with an adjusted identification.  The Rush Veneer is a migrant and there aren’t too many records for it in North Yorkshire – at Shandy Hall it is species number 323.

Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella)