Another muggy night with a trap full of moths to sift through. This time around there were three new for the garden:
[508] Povolnya leucapennella
[509] Crescent Plume
[510] Striped Wainscot
[511] Dingy Shears
I potted what looked like a Caloptilia species at around 2300 and it was quickly evident that it was something new to me. Even a poor photo of it taken through the pot suggested that it was actually Povolnya leucapennella (which was formerly Caloptilia leucapennella). The only problem was that this species is unrecorded in Hunts while Norfolk Moths only listed a record in 1998 and another in 1874! In fact it is mentioned that the species is 'very rare and not recently observed in south-east England'. There's no doubt about the identification though and I've since learnt that it appears to be the first for VC29.
The larval foodplant is oak with the larva initially mining the leaf. So its even more of a mystery why an individual has turned up here as opposed to more wooded areas of East Anglia!
Crescent Plume is a distinctive but scarce plume moth, recorded just once by me previously in Cottenham:
Striped Wainscot is commonly recorded when I've visited fenland habitats in the County in the summer but has never turned up here until now. Unfortunately this individual had taken a battering:
New for the year moths included my second record of Spruce-bud Moth, a better marked example than last years individual:
....and also Blastodacna hellerella which is annual in very small numbers:
I was surprised to find that Dingy Shears was new for the garden - I really thought that I had recorded this in 2017 but obviously not!
[508] Povolnya leucapennella
[509] Crescent Plume
[510] Striped Wainscot
[511] Dingy Shears
I potted what looked like a Caloptilia species at around 2300 and it was quickly evident that it was something new to me. Even a poor photo of it taken through the pot suggested that it was actually Povolnya leucapennella (which was formerly Caloptilia leucapennella). The only problem was that this species is unrecorded in Hunts while Norfolk Moths only listed a record in 1998 and another in 1874! In fact it is mentioned that the species is 'very rare and not recently observed in south-east England'. There's no doubt about the identification though and I've since learnt that it appears to be the first for VC29.
The larval foodplant is oak with the larva initially mining the leaf. So its even more of a mystery why an individual has turned up here as opposed to more wooded areas of East Anglia!
 |
| Povolnya leucapennella |
Crescent Plume is a distinctive but scarce plume moth, recorded just once by me previously in Cottenham:
 |
| Crescent Plume Marasmarcha lunaedactyla |
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| Striped Wainscot Mythimna pudorina |
 |
| Spruce-bud Moth Zeiraphera ratzeburgiana |
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| Blastodacna hellerella |
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| Dingy Shears Apterogenum ypsillon |
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