July already; heading into what should be the absolute peak for the garden
trap and as I type the garden and roadways are absolutely sodden from some
almighty thundery rains late this afternoon. I have managed to get the moth trap
out over the last few days though, and on Friday night I managed 101sp. before
packing the trap up at c01:30 with heavy rains forecast (that didn't arrive
until today). I've not done a lot else since my last walk into the
square so just as well the trap is ticking over.
It has brought some decent interest with a new moth and beetle in the
mix ....
This is one that was only recognised as a species in 2017, and the timing of
that has been coincidentally good with what seems to be a quick range
expansion. It was first picked up in VC55 in 2019 with a couple more last
year, and already this year a handful have been recorded. I was very hopeful
that one would turn up here and so it did, last night in an otherwise mediocre
catch:
Anarsia innoxiella - a full British moth tick for me.
The name is derived from the Latin 'innoxia' meaning harmless or innocuous, a
reference to it's non-destructive behaviour feeding on Acer spp., unlike
Anarsia lineatella, from which it was split, which can be a pest of Prunus sp.
crops.
Also one that I'd been expecting, this beetle was tucked up on the house wall
behind the trap on Thursday night. I had the camera to hand but no pots, so I
grabbed a couple of not so great shots, nipped indoors for a glass tube and by the time I
got back out it had moved/scarpered never to be seen again. Never approach a light trap with no pot/tube!
Soronia grisea
Otherwise a few nice moths and other bits to the trap:
Oncopsis subangulata - lacking prominent discoidal spots, and
intraocular band weak and does not reach eyes (cf Oncopsis flavicollis)
Leptocerus tineiformis
Zygina flammigera
No ID for this wasp, but it looks funky!
Eucosma conterminana - c20years to the day since it was added to the
VC55 list from my garden
Batia lunaris
Carpatolechia fugitivella - second garden record
Small Ranunculus
Scarce Silver Lines - first here since 2013
Burnished Brass - always a pleasure to see these in the trap. This is
f. aurea: there was talk of a potential split involving individuals with a
proper thick bar joining the two brassy bands [Cryptic Burnished Brass D.
stenochrysis], which will make assessment of the intermediate forms with more
sender bars (f. tutti) a bit subjective!
Also in the garden, this was loafing on my sallow sapling in sunshine ....
Dichrorampha vancouverana - second for garden after the first VC55
record in 2002
I found this larva munching on the flowers of Smooth Hawk's-beard. I couldn't identify it so I've tried to rear it through and it has now pupated; not sure if I'll be waiting
weeks or months to find out what it is ....
I didn't post an update on the SP5595ish yearlist at the end of May, so I'll
get around to that in the next post.
I'm not having to try too hard to avoid being overexcited by the Euro Championships, but
if there is a victory on Wednesday night it's definitely going to be hard
not to get swept away with it next weekend!
After an early trap-emptying session (with a lot more moths than of late, though nothing exceptional) the day has mainly comprised of cracking on with painting fence panels, seeing as it was dry and warm. Not a lot seen whilst doing that, but I did notice quite a few bits dithering around the gardening waste bin which have probably come from some lilac branches cut off yesterday. I also found a new for me larva. So, here's a mix starting with some hoppers .....
These two were amongst a handful in the trap this morning:
Ribautiana tenerrima
I reckon this is Oncopsis subangulata, but both this and O. flavicolis occur together on birch so I'll need to grab a couple to check out.
And this was on the gardening waste bin during the day ....
Common Froghopper
Also knocking about on the gardening waste bin were these beetle larvae:
Harlequin Ladybird
Ten-spot Ladybird
However this larva was a bit of a mystery. It's clearly a sawfly, but I found it resting on the side of the shed not really close to any plants. The gardening waste bin was nearby, and I wondered if it had come from there with the ladybird larvae. As the bin was mainly full of lilac cuttings, I stuck the larva in a tub with a leaf but it wasn't interested. So I stuck in a range of leaves from the back garden, and as there were also clippings from bushes on the front I stuck those in too. Still nothing. I then stuck in a leaf from our small Lycesteria formosa bush which is also on the front, though none of that went in the bin. Immediately it started eating and has already eaten half of the leaf. I guess it must have got knocked off and swept up somehow, but aside from some larval feeding damage I couldn't find anymore larvae on the bush.
This is one of the Abia spp., which may need to be reared through to confirm to species.
At this point, I'm going to mention that I've created the post with the new Blogger editor, and it is wank. It's going to take a bit of getting used to, and rather than being more intuitive it feels like a real slog. In particular, adding labels efficiently is a mystery and I had to revert to the legacy editor to get it to publish without a label error message. Good luck!
Here is something from some better Editors.
