6 July 2026

Brown Moths and ‘Binsey Poplars’

In ‘Binsley Poplars,’ Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetic eulogy for a row of felled aspens in Oxford, he describes the trees’ lovely habit of catching sunlight: ‘My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,/quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,/all felled, felled, are all felled.’ Though home to no aspens, Shandy Hall has two of the closely related Silver Poplars at the edges of the West Garden whose leaves flip and shimmer just as magnificently in the summer breeze and sun. Not only do they impress human visitors, in the past few weeks they might have attracted two poplar–loving moth species, one uncommon and one completely new!

The first, the Figure of Eighty (Tethea ocularis) is an unassuming midsize brown moth, but can be identified by the markings on the middle edges of each wing. It looks like someone has written the number eighty in bright white pencil. Its species name, ocularis, meaning ‘eye’ in Latin, also alludes to this distinctive pattern. Many moths evolve eye-like shapes to ward off predators, but it could also be a matter of attracting a mate or a random side effect of speciation.

Though relatively common in England and Wales, the Figure of Eighty is only an occasional visitor to Shandy Hall’s moth traps. Yorkshire is typically the furthest north it will travel, but it’s increasingly been immigrating from continental Europe. Not to be confused with the similarly marked Figure of Eight Moth (Diloba caeruleocephala), belonging to a completely different family and flying from September to November, T. ocularis is on the wing from late May until July. Aspens, like our own Silver Poplars, make up its preferred larval diet. After hatching, it will weave together two leaves where it can sandwich itself away from predators during the day and emerge to feed on greenery at night. When the leaves are shed in the fall, the moth will remain to pupate and overwinter in the decaying plant matter.

A few weeks ago, Shandy Hall had another poplar-phile guest, this time an entirely new species! The Chocolate-tip (Clostera curtula) mostly resides in the southern half of England, but has recently been expanding its range northward. It makes its home in woodlands and looks about as much like a bear or beaver as a moth can be. ‘Quite distinctive’ in appearance, according to the field guide, it has fur-like brown scales, especially around its thorax and front legs, and big, almost dopey black eyes. Like the Figure of Eighty, it pupates and overwinters among the leaves of aspens and other poplars. Unfortunately, I was a few weeks too late to see it, but hopefully it will return again soon!

Another new visitor that appeared in the trap was the Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica) whose common and scientific names both refer to the characteristic three horizontal lines that mark its wings. There are two morphs: the more common white with a silvery, almost lilac sheen, seen here, and a darker, rusty orange form.

It’s not picky when it comes to both host plants and habitats. settling for a range of different herbaceous plants (and almost any open grassland or garden). It’s frequently associated with limestone, chalk or sandy soil. Extremely localized, Treble Lines number very well in some parts of North Yorkshire and almost never in others. Increased sightings since 2000 show it has been gaining in territory and abundance. It’s unclear what the exact cause of this is, but maybe we can expect more visits from this little thrice–lined moth!

When it came to choosing a favorite of this group, I had to think about it. Do I choose the flashy, fur–trimmed White Ermine or the Buff Ermine? They look like little movie starlets, and are a truly melodramatic genus: whenever so slightly disturbed, they lay limp and feign death, and have to be gently picked up or pushed out of the trap. What about the drama of the dark purply browns, golden shimmers and jagged wings of the Dark Arches? This moth has three morphs, each phantom–like in its own distinct way. Or maybe the rare flash of color, coming from the yellowy–green markings on the wings of the Burnished Brass?

In the end, I decided on another moth with an unmistakable eye–like pattern: the Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa). With its characteristic creased and serrated edges, you could easily lose this moth in a pile of withering leaves, but it stands out in front of almost any other background. A migratory moth, its range spans from the Ural Mountains in the east to the Azores archipelago off the coast of Portugal and into parts of Northern Africa. I’m always amazed that an insect of this size can travel such distances – but Angle Shades seems sturdy and sure of itself!

Other species spotted:

Barred Straw (Gandaritis pyraliata)
Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea)
Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata)
Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata)
Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens)
Flame (Axylia putris)
Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)
Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)
Marbled Minor (Oligia strigilis)
Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula)
Miller (Acronicta leporina)
Plain Golden Y (Autographa jota)
Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)
Scoparia ambigualis
Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)
Shoulder-striped Wainscot (Leucania comma)
Small Magpie (Anania hortulata)
Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)
Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)
Udea olivalis
White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

Post by Sarah Leonard (UPenn intern 2026)