Elephant Hawk-moth larva

We seem to be a day or two behind most wildlife spotters at the moment!

I had seen several pictures of this rather handsome Elephant Hawk-moth larva on social media, and had remarked to David how interesting it would be to see one. I would also like to see the adult moth with its pink and green-gold markings.

Well, he took a parcel to the letterbox yesterday, passing some rough ground with a clump of Rosebay Willow Herb, and came back with these photos, which he has allowed me to share.  

One website compared the length of this caterpillar to an adult's finger, and the centimetre rule in the photo above will give a more accurate picture. The distinctive eye-like markings help to ward off potential predators: there is a good feature on 'fake eyes' here. 

David revisited the waste ground today, and made a short video of the larva munching away, which you can see here.

Scarlet Tiger Moth

Who says moths are dull?

I have been meaning to post these moth photographs for ages. I posted the pictures on iSpot months ago, hoping for confirmation of my identification, but sadly I am still waiting. Perhaps some kind blogger will come to my aid instead!

We were at NT Trerice (such beautiful grounds...) in Cornwall back in late June when we became aware of a flutter over the flower bed. Amazingly, the insect came to rest, with forewings tightly together. We waited and watched, and to our delight, the moth eventually opened its wings, revealing the beautiful scarlet that you see in the photo above. I don't know whether the yellow marks, as opposed to the white marks, on the forewing are pale because the moth had just emerged: I had expected them to be brighter.

This was a first sighting for me and I am smitten! I hope I may get my eye in next year, and find some more... 

#mothsmatter

Leaf-miners are Larvae!

There has been much media coverage today for the school strike by young people against climate change. I have been thinking back to those balmy, if 'unnatural', February days when sightings of early butterflies graced the pages of @twitter, and I began to wish that I had a 2019 butterfly photo of my own to share. We visited NT Wicken Fen, a renowned site for biodiversity, but any lurking butterflies eluded me.

Since then we have been battered by Storm Gareth, which comes and goes in pulses, bearing a chill wind in its wake at times. What, I wonder, has become of those early butterflies?

I checked the garden this morning for signs of a return to spring, and found a 7-spot Ladybird but few other signs of insect life. I was about to come indoors when a rather scruffy bramble caught my attention, and I noticed the leaf-miner trail in the photo above. I knew virtually nothing about the creatures who make these so it seemed a good moment to learn (so please let me know if any of the text that follows needs a tweak!).

I discovered that these insects are larvae, a thought that had not previously crossed my mind. Furthermore, it turns out that these ones are lepidopteran larvae. OK, so there are no bright-winged butterflies for me to photograph and enjoy this morning, but there is the excitement of discovering that the small miners who leave a corridor-trail (known, it seems as a 'gallery', patterned with 'frass') will become moths, probably Stigmella aurella (and here for Suffolk sightings) or a similar Stigmella species. 

The adult moth, while not without a certain charm, is not the most exciting creature in terms of appearance. The wingspan of this species of Nepticulidae is less than a centimetre. The fact that these insects are part of the Nepticulidae family indicates that they have eye-caps over their eyes. We quite often see Mint Moths in our garden, but I cannot recall seeing a leaf mine moth, such as the Golden Pigmy, when they are on the wing in May. Photos of the larval stage can be seen here.

Those of you who follow my blog may know that I like to contribute data to insect recording surveys. I see there is a rather comprehensive Leaf-miner Moth Recording scheme here. 

Many of my UK readers will be aware that Butterfly Conservation have just launched a new awareness initiative in the face of a serious decline called #MothsMatter. It seeks to show us why moths matter as pollinators and as an important element in the food chain. Many of us admire these insects for their variety and beauty.

Here at home we have a dedicated wildlife patch in our garden. We also have a few self-seeded Buddleia butterfly-bushes (including one growing up through out tarmac drive!). I have three insect hotels. There is a ready supply of water, and while a slab by the french window may not be the ideal space for a bramble, I see no reason why the larvae should be disturbed.

I had a couple of moths on the outside of my window last night: here's to a summer ahead of knowledge, wonder, conservation ... and moths.

My First Mint Moth of 2018

I was delighted to find a Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata) in the garden this morning. We have seen these small creatures here before, but only infrequently. Each forewing is about the size of a little fingernail, possibly smaller. The strange thing is that to my knowledge we do not have any mint or thyme, but I guess these herbs may grow in neighbouring gardens.  

I had to be quite patient while the moth rested on the underside of a nettle: you can just see it in the photo above. 

After a few minutes of fluttering around and landing once or twice in shady patches of undergrowth, it perched on a Daisy in full sunshine, allowing me a good view. 

You can just make out its proboscis in the photo above so perhaps our Daisies were acceptable as mint substitutes. You can also see the distinctive markings of the underwings and the narrow stripes on the abdomen. 

This shows the insect with its wings together. You can see a fringe around the edges.

(What seems to be a) Red Underwing Moth at NT Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

A flint-faced wall provides the perfect camouflage

We were having a picnic lunch last Saturday by the church wall in the Oxburgh Hall car park when we noticed this fine but camouflaged creature. It was large and although it remained pretty still, we observed some small movements.

I looked and looked at moth pictures on my return home without much success. Eventually my eyes alighted on a photograph of a Red Underwing, and I felt fairly confident that this was the species in question.

Sadly we never saw even the tiniest flash of red which is there to warn predators, but the outer markings alone seem to make this a likely ID when considered alongside the identification offered on the iSpot site.

Just look at those stripes on the legs! But what a shame we failed to see a parting of the wings.

Apparently this species frequently rests on walls. It is just one of the 300 varieties of Noctuid Moths, the largest family of macro-moths here in Great Britain. We noticed the moth near the trees in the background of the photo below. The churchyard of the 14th century church of St John the Evangelist lies beyond.

Oxburgh Hall lies in the Breckland village of Oxborough. You can read about it here.

NT Oxburgh Hall

Postscript: on the subject of moths, I found this extraordinary article about camouflage, genes and pigment adaptation to surroundings. Do take a look!

Beech Branch Mystery at NT Ickworth

Pheasant at NT Ickworth, Suffolk, 4 January 2016

Happy New Year! 

We were wandering through the delightful grounds at NT Ickworth, looking for early signs of spring, when our eyes alighted on this strange object on a beech twig. You can see the beech buds at the end of the branches, but what is the strange white bundle?

While I am intrigued by a mystery, I am also curious enough to enjoy the satisfaction of finding the answer, often with a little help from my friends! So please drop a line in the comments or on my @coastcard twitter account if you can help.

It may be just a decaying leaf, but we suspect it may be an overwintering pupa or cocoon of some sort.

I note incidentally that there are lepidoptera like the barred Hook-tip moth (Watsonalla contraria) which sandwich their pupa between two beech leaves.  

NT Ickworth

I am reminded that the term marcescence refers to leaves (like many beech leaves) that dry up but do not fall off in the autumn. 

May 2016 bring many more wildlife mysteries and wonders to our attention!

A Mixed Bag of Moths ...

I think this is Buff ermine (Spilosoma lutea)

It seems to be that time of year here in Suffolk when we begin to notice two particularly fluttery creatures - bats and moths. 

I have to confess that I was never very interested in moths. I liked butterflies and had a good butterfly guide from about the age of eleven. Most moths seemed a dull brown colour and did little to make me interested in them. In those days moths seemed to suggest the smell of naphthalene (now considered a possible health risk, especially to the young who might try to ingest mothballs). Some people have switched to red cedar discs as a deterrent, though the cedar may only work on hatching larvae.

I am still more of a butterfly person, but I am coming to appreciate moths as a result of seeing the wonderful photographs on your blogs. Many of you have moth traps, and while I don't use one of these, I really enjoy seeing the variety of shape, colour and particularly pattern that emerge. There is sometimes something rather kaleidoscopic about the markings on a moth.

We think this is the Straw Underwing (Thalpophila matura) ... thank you, RR!

The moth below appeared in our house on 30 June. It alighted on the mirror, as you can see.

Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)

Here in the UK there are three species of moth that can have a particularly negative effect on our homes. The Brown House Moth is attracted to natural fibres such as feathers, leather, sheepskin and wood. The White-shouldered House Moth prefers to lay its eggs in our food, and we all know about the Clothes Moth. Insects come in through our open windows and lay their eggs. Once the larvae hatch, the eating begins in earnest.

Moth eggs on glass

It is important to remember that most species of moths do not cause infestations in our homes. Many are exquisitely beautiful and play a key role in the food chain. I particularly like the bright red colours of the Cinnabar Moth, which flies at night and is therefore a tricky one to catch on camera (and also in the sunshine by day. My thanks to Simon Douglas Thompson for his correction here - see comments below).

The photo below was taken near Snape Maltings and shows a Cinnabar caterpillar.

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar in Suffolk

And just to end with a Humming-bird Hawk-moth that I saw near Pylos in the Peloponnese five years ago. These exquisite insects can also be found in the UK, although I have rarely seen them over here. 

Humming-bird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

 I read on the Butterfly Conservation site that there are two and a half thousand moth species in the UK compared with 59 species of butterfly; but, of course, there are also the migrants to spot.

• UK Moths
• Day-flying moths