3 July 2017

3 July 2017 – Brown Rustic

Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)

The trap was set up in the tent on Monday night due to the forecast of rain. It was still pouring down on the following morning so I sheltered the trap and myself in the moth-shed and went through the contents there. With only the miniscule amount of sunlight filtering through the clouds and the door of the moth shed, I looked through the trap, carefully examining each individual egg box. It was when I got through the egg boxes, recognizing most of the species apart from a couple of micro moths, that I saw a tattered moth with long furry antennae. The color was a bland brown, something many moths have, but for some reason it felt like a novelty. I put the moth into one of our larger containers and snapped some pictures.

Even after nearly a whole day trying to identify it correctly, I still could not figure out what species it was so I asked Charlie Fletcher. He informed me it was a Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea). The name Rusina means ‘reddish’ and ferruginea also means ‘reddish’ or ‘the colour of iron-rust’.

Dock (Rumex)

The larvae of the Brown Rustic feed on herbaceous plants such as dock (Rumex).

The Brown Rustic, despite its slightly insignificant appearance, is actually listed as uncommon and is new to Shandy Hall which makes it species number 415!

Post : Walter Chen [UPenn intern]