Shandy Hall Moths
13 August 2019
13 August 2019 – A Palette of Browns
(Agriphila tristella) There were possibly two hundred moths in the last trap but the number of different species was limited. 20 or so Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis) moths most of which were released into the bushes as soon as possible to prevent the less boisterous moths from being disturbed; then an army of Underwings […]
1 August 2019
1 August 2019 – Food for Bats
Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) The Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) can usually be found tucked into a space that it seems to create all for itself. Whilst the Mother of Pearls, the Underwings and the Elephant Hawk-moths are whirring around, this bluish-grey (glaucus) little moth remains serene and undisturbed imitating a bird-dropping. The cilix part of […]
27 July 2019
27 July 2019 – Dr Johnson’s Omission
Dingy Footman (Eilema griseola) If you had to identify a Dingy Footman (Eilema griseola) you might expect it to be a little dingier, a little dirtier, than the example photographed above. The word ‘dingy’ seems to have originated in south-east UK where it was a dialect word ‘common in speech but not in writing’. Dr Johnson […]
17 July 2019
17 July 2019 – Moths go to School
After the moth release. An early morning inspection of the trap was encouraging and there were a number of colourful species that might interest Year 6 primary school children. Persuading the moths into the collecting tubes and then attaching a label with the common name written on it seemed the best way to give the […]
11 July 2019
11 July 2019 – A Footman Awaits
Common Footman (Eilema lurideola) ’In early use, a runner in attendance upon a rider of rank;… a servant who ran before his master’s carriage, called more fully a running footman.’ The Oxford English Dictionary also has ‘A man-servant in livery employed chiefly to attend the carriage and wait at table.’ It is the second […]
1 July 2019
1 July 2019 – National Garden Scheme Moths
(Pseudargyrotoza cowagana) Not a name to forget. Certainly a very long name for a very small moth. What secrets can be unlocked by finding the derivation of the scientific name? ‘Pseudos’ is the Greek for ‘a falsehood’ and the ‘argurotoxos’ refers to Apollo – the bearer of the silver bow. He also had a golden […]
22 June 2019
22 June 2019 – Cold Moon
Shoulder-striped Wainscot (Mythimna comma) The moth evening arranged for early June was a complete wash-out. The gardens open in the evenings and a moth identification and release has been part of the evening for near enough ten years now. June is such an unpredictable month and the rain and wind this year seem to have reduced the […]
1 June 2019
1 June 2019 – Twenty-plume Moth
Twenty-plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla) Apologies for the murky image of the Twenty-plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla). My excuse is that I had to photograph it in a plastic tube as it is almost constantly in motion – little darting runs, one after another and no settling down into a resting position.This is only the third recorded at Shandy Hall, the last sighting being […]
27 May 2019
27 May 2019 – Moths Survive and Arrive
Peach Blossom (Thyatira batis) It is a wonder that this moth survives to fly into the trap. The pupa rests either on the soil (or just underneath) during the winter months and hatches to be on the wing in May. How such a delicate organism can survive on the surface of the soil is beyond […]
22 May 2019
22 May 2019 – Blondin of the Bushes II
Nemapotogon schwarziellus The photograph in the previous posting reveals that the measured moth is more likely to be what the Norfolk Moths website refers to as the Sandy Long-horn (Nemapotogon schwarziellus). Charlie Fletcher finds this variety more common than N swammerdammella – which is good news for Shandy Hall as it means that is another species to […]
21 May 2019
21 May 2019 – Blondin of the Bushes
(Nematopogon swammerdamella) Pure chance that I happened on this moth at 6.30pm as it rested on Hydrangea petiolaris – a climbing hydrangea that originates in Japan. The little moth has spectacular antennae and they seem to act like a tight-rope walker’s balancing pole as the insect clambers among the unopened flower heads. There has been only […]
14 May 2019
14 May 2019 – Studies in Grey
Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica) The gap in posting does not represent idleness on my part. Traps have been set, Hebrew Characters (Orthosia gothica) have been identified and recorded but that is all. It is difficult to compose an account of the delights of moth-trapping when all there is to be seen is a moth that has been recorded […]
Recent Moths
- 25 July 2023 – Collective Noun for Hawkmoths
- MOTH LIST to August 2023 with links
- 28 July 2023 – TRIPLE New Species Alert!
- 18 July 2023 – A Golden…Plusia!
- 13 July 2023 – Arts and Sciences
- 10 July 2023 – Rise of the Yellow Underwings
- 4 July 2023 – Cold-weather Catch
- 4 July 2023 – Mother of Pearl, an Inspiration to Science
- 28 June 2023 – Buff-tipped Marble
- 23 June 2023 – Moth or Butterfly?
- 20 June 2023 – Bee, Straw, Emerald and a Ghost
- 17 June 2023 – Old and New
