It's been a great weekend weather-wise, with a good few insects finding their
way onto my square list.
I stuck out a pheromone lure in the garden yesterday afternoon (MOL lure for
Grapholita molesta). I was hoping that one of the Pammene sp. that are coming
to this lure would turn up, more in vain hope than expectation, but literally
within a minute of putting it out a small moth was flittering about the trap
before going in. I secured it in a pot and was pretty sure it was Pammene suspectana, with rapid confirmation from a FB posting. There are no previous VC55
records, although I've since picked up that Keith Tailby had a few to a lure
on Friday. I'll get it gen detted to support the record, but I have no doubts
personally. The weird thing about this though is that it turned up very
quickly, but I left the lure out and in the subsequent 24hrs it attracted one
aphid.
The garden trap has also livened up a bit, although overall numbers are still
low. There have been a few NFY species over the last three nights including
these:
Campion
Sandy Carpet
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Pale Tussock
Flame Shoulder
Today I grabbed a couple of hours in the square sweeping and swiping my nets.
I've ended up with a fair few pots to work through, and I grabbed some very
quick photos of a couple of beetles, with the first being a tick ....
Plateumaris sericea
Anthonomus pedicularius
Hylesinus varius
And always good to see a few of these whilst out and about ....
By Wednesday evening, with the hot and humid conditions and early starts to empty the trap, I was in two minds about putting the light out again. I really needed the extra couple of hours in bed in the morning before work, and I was almost hoping that the forecast would show heavy overnight rain. But the forecast was actually getting better for trapping, high temps and humidity and still no heavy rain. I decided to go for it again, and that turned out to be the best decision I've made all week!
Before I'd gone to bed I'd already potted up a longhorn beetle, and the trap looked busy enough. Bright and early in the morning, and as I went through the eggboxes I was delighted to find a new for me moth - one I've been hoping for ....
Toadflax Brocade
Really pleased to get one of these; they first turned up in VC55 a couple of years ago but have been a little slower spreading around than some other recent colonists. Still I knew one would find my garden eventually. I hope one finds my neighbours large patch of Purple Toadflax too!
Also following the light and ending up in the trap:
Campion - third record / fourth individual this year, only previous garden record was one in 2017
Caloptilia populetorum - third garden record
Tachystola acroxantha - second garden record after one last year
And then the longhorn that I'd potted before going to bed on Weds. I'd had a quick look at it and assumed it was a dark form of Tanbark Borer. I then took some snaps and didn't bother checking it - bit of a cock up as almost immediately when posting a photo on our VC55 Facebook group I realised it didn't look quite right. I then spent half an hour or so trying to convince myself what it was and eventually concluded it was actually Arhopalus rusticus - somewhat rarer in VC55 and one I've only seen once before briefly. I managed to correct myself before anyone pointed out the error.
The beetle presence in the trap was again quite good, and aside from the above I also had a new beetle that - for a change - I immediately recognised as a Tenebrionid ....
Prionychus ater - another relatively scarce beetle in VC55, most recent records from light traps
I also potted up a couple of very small beetles which I'd just about decided were also Tenebrionids, one of the 'flour beetles'. As I looked at them scuttling about in the pot I just about convinced myself that two species were involved, but either way they would be notable from a VC55 perspective as there are few Tribolium sp. records and zero Palorus sp. records. I then read Martin Fowlie's blog which pretty much convinced me I was right. So rather than attempting to kill and card them or get some crappy photos and lose the specimens, I've forwarded them to Graham Finch who may well have a better chance with them. I've also passed on an Ophonus sp. from a few days ago that running through the key is neither O. ardosiacus (pronotal shape) or O. rufibarbis (single pronotal setae) so would be notable for VC55 either way.
Ophonus sp. (post-script Ophonus punticeps)
After all that I definitely needed a night off, so no trapping last night. The daytime temps have dropped now, though overnight temps are still ok for mid-August and there is no rain forecast until tomorrow morning so I'll stick it out tonight.
A couple of catch-up bits first. I've managed to sort another of the sawflies from Ketton Quarry on 17/05 - or rather confirm from the key that the suggested ID on UK Sawflies was right. It is Cytisogaster chambersi, based on the facial markings which separate it from two other spp.
And I've also sorted a couple of small black hoverflies from the garden on Monday: one was another Pipizella viduata, but the other was new for me - Eumerus funeralis. It's not much of a looker, and only c5mm long so not exactly the most exciting hoverfly but good to sort it properly based on ocelli position and underside of hind femora.
Rear pair of ocelli positioned close to the 'baseline' of the eyes than E. ornatus
Shiny bare patch on hind femora
Another new one for the garden was a surprise, given that the one I swept at Countesthorpe Meadows on 16/05 was on the fourth or so record for the county ....
Empis scutellata - just about to escape from the moth trap it came to
I've got a few bits to pin and check later tonight, including a yello-faced bee from the garden today and a weird shaped small thin sawfly.
Here's a couple more from Huncote Embankment yesterday:
Graphomya macualata - female
Graphomya maculata - male
Helophilus pendulus
A here's a few more from the garden trap ...
Campion - only second garden record
Buff-tip
Coxcomb Prominent
"I made a god out of blood, not superiority,
I killed the king of deceit, now I sleep in anarchy"
The garden synergetic trap was back out last night for the first time in a few days, given that it was dry, cloudy and the wind had dropped. But overall it was still a low catch - the summer peak is well and truly over and we're in that annual lull between the summer variety and the autumn noctuid glut.
Whilst having a quick nose at the trap before I went to bed, I could see a smallish noctuid high up on the wall above our kitchen window (and therefore above the trap) but couldn't see exactly what it was. But it did look interesting, so I got one of the garden chairs and set about precariously standing on it and reaching up to pot the moth. Having done that, I thought I knew what it was but in torchlight outside and artificial light indoors I thought my eyes might be deceiving me. It went in the fridge and I forgot about it until I got home from work. And yes, there was a feint remaining trace of lilac colour and it was indeed a garden-first Campion.
Campion
678th garden moth, 317th macro and 11th garden tick this year with others pending
Not much else in there to be honest, so to sign off here's another one that's changed name ......
