3rd August 2019

The move in to August coincided with a distinct drop in diversity with 'only' 78 species recorded. As is the way recently though, there were some excellent moths.

The most interesting was a Peacock moth species, There are two similar species and I hadn't seen either before. Due to the extensive grey band across the forewing I thought this was Sharp-angled Peacock Macaria alternata. Looking at it some more though, other features didn't seem to fit. Noticeably the large and obvious 'paw' print on the forewing and the complete dark line on the hindwing fringe (above and below) strongly suggested Peacock Moth M. notata. It does seem that that no single feature is diagnostic and a suite of features combined is the best way to determine the identity. Both species are rare in VC29 but on balance, I am content that it is Peacock Moth.

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Peacock Moth Macaria notata

The second new moth for me was a crisply marked plume moth, the Triangle Plume:

Triangle Plume Platyptilia gonodactyla

New for the garden were two species I had recorded just once at Corbett Street:

Bulrush Wainscot Nonagria typhae

Batrachedra praeangustea

I had recorded the migrant Rusty-dot Pearl a few times at Corbett Street but this is the first one here:

Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis

[545] Batrachedra praeangustea
[546] Triangle Plume
[547] Rusty-dot Pearl
[548] Peacock Moth
[549] Bulrush Wainscot