RXwildlife Sightings » Moths

Convolvulus Hawkmoth - at last!

Pat Bonham — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:30:55 +0000

I’d seen several Convolvulus Hawkmoths in other people’s traps but never caught one myself, so this 2-inch long monster, dwarfing everything else, was a very welcome sight in my trap in Rye this morning. It’s an immigrant mainly to southern and eastern coastal counties and more often in autumn, the numbers varying a lot from year to year. I’ll release it at dusk, so if anyone wants to see it please phone me today – my number’s in the book!

Waved Black

Pat Bonham — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:57 +0000

A surprise in my moth trap in Rye this morning was this Waved Black, a new species for me. Despite appearances it’s actually a noctuid, in the same subfamily as the common Straw Dot but classed nationally scarce. Waring’s field guide says ”The earliest records were from slime moulds on rotting wood in docks and cellars in London. The main food is fungi growing on rotting trees, particularly birches and pines …”. The two main areas of distribution are now the Severn valley and the south-east, though everywhere very local, and a few immigrants have also been recorded on the Channel coast. As if this wasn’t enough, my first Satin Lutestring for the garden provided the icing on the cake.

Another migrant

Alan Martin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:17:12 +0000

The Orache Moth used to be a resident in the east of England until 1915 but is now a rare immigrant. The rather tatty specimen above was caught near Staplecross on the night of the 19th July, but to show what they can look like I have also shown a fresh specimen which was caught in SW France earlier this year. (more…)

…and (another) new moth.

Chris Bentley — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:15:22 +0000

This is developing into a good year for migrants on the south coast, with Rye Harbour no exception. The Sussex Emerald a few days ago was a probably a migrant, and today we had another with the capture of a Splendid Brocade (Lacanobia splendens). This is a species which comes from central and southern Europe and turns up occasionally on our shores. This year Phil Jones has had a few at Icklesham and it has been trapped at Portland and a few other south coast sites so having one turn up here was not completely unexpected.

Splendid Brocade

Sussex Emerald

Chris Bentley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:31:47 +0000

This male Sussex Emerald was in my moth trap yesteday morning, but as it is quite rare I held off mentioning it until I could have the id confirmed by an expert (my thanks to Colin Pratt the Sussex county recorder for moths) First found in Britain at Beachy Head in Sussex in 1902 (hence the name), these days it is confined as a breeding species to Dungeness (though apparently it occasionally turns up as a migrant), the larvae feeding on Wild Carrot, Yarrow and other low-growing plants. It is very similar to Common Emerald, but can be told from this species by the presence of two lobes on the hind-wing (just visble at the extreme left of the left hand wing in the picture below) rather than just one.

Sussex Emerald

Rye Harbour Moths

Chris Bentley — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:20:27 +0000

Micros seem to be providing the main interest in the Lime Kiln moth trap at the moment, and this morning was no exception, with several little gems turning up. Best of the bunch was probably a Starry Pearl (Cynaeda dentalis), one of a suite of rare shingle species which feed on Viper’s Bugloss (Bordered Ermel is another). Also present another Rosy-striped Knot-horn (probably a stray from the colony on Camber dunes), Salt-marsh Grass Veneer and Long-legged Tabby (one of the commonest moths in the trap at the moment). Macro highlight was probably a Pale Grass Eggar, a light form of Grass Eggar confined to shingle in the south-east.

Starry Pearl
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New arrivals

Sam Smith — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:05:32 +0000

Over the past few days a Humming-bird Hawk-moth has been visiting one of our flowering shrubs (I have no idea what its called), these moths are migrants and arrive in varying numbers each summer. Other migrant visitors have included the mighty Volucella zonaria this hoverfly is a hornet mimic and can look a bit scary but they are completely harmless, and another hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri.

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My favourite moth

Alan Martin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:25:02 +0000

Although listed in most moth guides as ‘common’, in my experience the Lappet is seldom encountered at light traps. This one was caught on the 11th July at Cooden Beach Golf Club on the edge of Pevensey Levels, and although not the rarest moth caught that night it was certainly the most weird looking.

Moth Faces

Barry Yates — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:36:30 +0000

Moths are gernerally seen and photographed from above, but they take on a different character if viewed face to face. I remember back in the 1980’s some fascinating photos of moth “faces” by Michael Tweedie, a local naturalist. So yesterday I took some photos of moths caught in Northiam.

Spectacle - can you see its pair of glasses?
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Rye Harbour Moths

Chris Bentley — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:18:08 +0000

Around 60 species and 500 individuals in the Lime Kiln moth trap this morning, the catch dominated by Dark Arches (261) and Brown-tail(89). Highlights were several Pigmy Footman, a Sand Dart and two species with fantastic names - Rosy-striped Knot Horn and Cream-bordered Green Pea. Also of interest were a couple Dark Tussock, a species which has only deen recorded once before on the reserve, and Dotted Oak Knot Horn, which has only been recorded once before at Lime Kiln.

Dark Tussock
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