Fire Crackers

Back in the day, after buying 'Skinner 2nd Ed', this was the second moth guide that I bought ....

Apparently 'Pyralid' is derived from the Latin pyralis (which in turn appears to be derived from the Greek pyr = fire). Pyralis was a fly fabled to have lived in fire; perhaps an allusion to moths heading towards candles / torches? Either way some of the species in this group are real crackers (though not necessarily any of those featured here).

Amongst the micros, this group has always been generally sought after - perhaps because accessible guides to other micro groups were limited at best. I used to scrutinise any new Pyralid moths against this guide as I learnt the commoner species, but I don't think I've actually opened my copy in the last ten years or so.

Whilst it is a diverse group with a number of sub-families, there were all Pyralidae back then. Not now; the group has been split into two families, Pyralidae and Crambidae. I've been happily snapping just about anything that sits still by the trap for long enough over the last few weeks, whilst looking for interesting non-leps, and realise I've ended up with a number of photos of various common 'Pyralids' - a good opportunity to actually check which family some of these are in and to overload your screen with far too many images for one blog post.

I'll start with species that are still within the Pyralidae:

Bee Moth

Gold Triangle

Endotricha flammealis

Phycita roborella

Acrobasis consociella

Acrobasis advenella

Euzophera pinguis

Homeosoma sinuella

Rhodophaea formosa

And the following are all within the Crambidae ....

Eudonia lacustrata

Eudonia mercurella

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Crambus pascuella

Agriphila straminella

Catoptria pinella

Water Veneer (female)

Small China-mark (male)

Small China-mark (female)

Ringed China-mark (male)

Ringed China-mark (female)

Pyrausta aurata

Anania perlucidalis

Udea prunalis

Mother of Pearl

It doesn't take a genius to see that there are moths within both families that have similar shapes, eg why is a Gold Triangle a Pyralid and yet Udea prunalis is a Crambid. I'm sure it makes sense genetically ....

Twist : Torts and Ticks

I'm going to focus on various Tortricidae from the garden, and including some ticks. In no particular order. First up, a couple of non-descript looking Torts that were confirmed via gen det courtesy of Andy Mackay:

Grapholita tenebrosana - 12/07/2021 - a full blown tick for me

Grapholita funebrana - 13/07/2021, previous records in 2017 & 2018

Oddly enough, I've had neither of these to the pheromone lures that seem to have attracted them for others (SKI & MOL). Unlike the following two; whilst these were never really in doubt, they have been confirmed by gen det too:

Pammene suspectana to MOL - 29/05/2021

Grapholita lobarzewskii to SKI - 13/06/2021

And this one too:

Dichrorampha vancouverana - 01/07/2021

The following was new for the garden, though I didn't realise until after it had been dismissed with the rest of the catch so only this quick snap.

Eucosma hohenwartiana - 16/07/2021

Also new for the garden, though not a classic specimen!

Variegated Golden Tortrix - 12/07/2021

None of the following were new, though only single records for each:

Gypsonoma oppressana - 17/07/2021 (one previous record 2013)

Cydia fagiglandana - 17/07/2021 (one previous record 2020)

Acleris kochiella - 22/07/2021 (one previous record 2011)

The following will be new for the garden when confirmed - pending gen det:

Dichrorampha sp. (alpinana / flavidorsana) - 17/07/2021

D. flavidorsana would be a full tick for me

Endothenia sp. - 22/07/2021

And to round up the Tortrix overload, none of the following are 'special', except that they are Tortricids which are perhaps my favourite moth group.

Epiblema foenella

Cydia splendana

Epinotia nisella

Lobesia abscisana

Zeiraphera isertana

Lozotaeniodes formosana

Rhyaconia buoliana

Pammene fasciana

Celypha lacunana

Finally sticking with the Tortrix theme, the Epinotia spp. that I netted a couple of weeks ago were confirmed as Epinotia tedella and Epinotia nanana by gen det.

Tortrix is derived from the Latin tortus, meaning twist - alluding to the leaf-rolling habits of many of these species.

Lighting Up for Bugs n Beetles

Aside from seven days in the sun (it's been like a proper summer recently), this last week has been one of the most productive for the garden light trap that I can remember, and I think that's more down to me spending time looking at it with camera in hand before going to bed rather than waiting to see what is there in the morning. I've seen quite a few species that were there in the early part of the night, but no sign in the morning. The mothing side of things has been pretty good too, and before long I need to get on with transcribing a few nights from the digital dictaphone for data entry.

Here's a few recent non-leps that have graced the trap:

Eurhadina pulchella - tick!

Aguriahana stellulata

Limotettix striola - tick!

Balclutha punctata

Linnavuoriana sexmaculata

Ledra aurita - a retrospective tick!

I have seen one of these before, years ago on a mothing night out, but discovered it was missing from my PSL. Never had one in the garden before, then two in the same night.

Oncotylus viridiflavus - tick!

Miridius quadrivirgatus

Pinalitus cervinus

Empicoris culiciformis - tick! And a weird looking one at that (it is a Hemipteran)

Chlaenius vestitus - tick! Super smart Carabid

Deleaster dichrous - tick!

Prionychus ater - one of two this week

I will get around to posting some moth highlights soon, but the trap is off tonight as I need a lie in!