Tag Archives: British moths

An empty cocoon

17 Saturday Apr 2021

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I must admit that, at first sight, this object, which was lying on a dirt path in a paddock in my local country park, had me completely baffled. I even poked it with the toe of my shoe, thinking it might be poo. But, once I looked closer, I could see the outline of wings and realised it was an empty cocoon. But of what?

210417 cocoon (1)

Once I got home, I checked through the pupa images on Peter Eeles’s excellent UK Butterflies website but nothing seemed to fit. So, I posted photos of my find on Twitter and asked the man himself for help. Peter very quickly identified the cocoon as that of an Elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor), a beautiful creature that I’ve not yet seen (click on the moth’s name to see a picture on the UK Moths website). At least now I know they can be found nearby.

210417 cocoon (2)

First caterpillar

06 Saturday Feb 2021

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Most unexpectedly, I saw my first caterpillar of the year when I was out walking yesterday. It’s a Scarlet tiger moth caterpillar that was sitting on the stucco wall of a house I passed. According to my Twitter pal George, who’s a senior moth ecologist with Butterfly Conservation, though Scarlet tigers over-winter as larvae, these larvae are not usually seen until the spring. But spring is only a couple of weeks away and, if local bird activity is anything to go by, the wild creatures can already feel it in the air.

210206 scarlet tiger moth caterpillar

George reassuringly told me that caterpillars are tough but I do hope this little one finds somewhere a bit more sheltered to weather the cold spell that’s forecast for the coming week. I’d love to see it again when it emerges as an adult as they’re so beautiful and I’ve only ever seen the adults twice. The photo below, of a Scarlet tiger moth, was taken locally in June 2019.

210206 scarlet tiger moth adult

331/366 Leaf mines: Phyllonorycter leucographella

26 Thursday Nov 2020

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I stumbled across these leaf mines by accident but I simply can’t resist including them … because the tiny striped larvae are so darn cute!

201126 phyllonorycter leucographella (1)

These are the larvae of the moth Phyllonorycter leucographella, the adult of which is also rather striking – you can see photos of it on the UK Moths website here. As the website reports, this moth is a recent arrival to Britain, first spotted in Essex just 40 years ago, but for such a small creature – its wingspan is only 7-9mm – it’s managed to fly and settle far and wide, from Yorkshire in the north of England to Pembrokeshire in the west of Wales, and all points in between. This may partly be due to the fact that its larvae feed on many garden plants: I found an abundance of leaf mines on an orange-berried variety of Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), which explains why the moth’s common name is Firethorn leaf miner.

As you can see from my pictures, the larval ‘mine’ is like a blister, centred over the midrib on the upper side of the leaf. The larva, which, with black blobs on a white body, is very distinctive, can often be seen through the membrane of the mine, especially when it’s feeding at the edge of the blister. You can read more about this leaf miner, its life cycle and preferred larval plants on the UK Fly Mines website here.

201126 pyracantha

314/366 Leaf mines: Parornix anglicella

09 Monday Nov 2020

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Here’s another leaf mine to look for in your local hedgerows, a very distinctive mine on Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) made by the larvae of the micro moth Parornix anglicella, also known as the Hawthorn slender.

201109 parornix anglicella cones (1)

Although the newly hatched moth larva initially creates a corridor mine and then a blotch, it later makes itself a cone-shaped tent, using silk to adhere the bent-over edge to the main part of the leaf, and these cones are very easy to spot. Turn over the leaf to view the underside and you’ll find incredibly beautiful, almost sculptural structures, some resembling miniature latticework pyramids.

You can read more scientific detail about the leaf mine on the UK Fly Mines website here, and see what the adult moth looks like on the UK Moths website here.

201109 parornix anglicella cones (6)

307/366 Leaf mines: Tischeria ekebladella

02 Monday Nov 2020

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I mentioned in a recent post (Gone galling, again, 28 October) that October was a good month to find galls and mines on leaves and, in fact, that also extends into November, or until the deciduous trees have shed their leaves and those fallen leaves have turned to mush, and the leaves of wild plants have also become unrecognisable in the mud under our feet.

201102 Tischeria ekebladella (1)

So, let’s start this mini series on leaf mines with a look at the blotch mines made on Oak (and sometimes Sweet chestnut) by the larvae of the micro moth Tischeria ekebladella. The blotch starts off looking quite white but often browns, from the centre, with age, giving it a look that one astute observer described as a fried egg. The larva creates a cocoon within the blotch and remains there until its ready to pupate in the springtime. The adult moth emerges from pupation and is on the wing in May and June.

By holding leaves up to the light, I managed to photograph larvae within a couple of mines, though, one of our local moth experts, George, who’s a senior moth ecologist with Butterfly Conservation, told me that the larva in the photo on the right below looks to have been parasitised and a different creature’s larva seems to have emerged from the Tischeria larva. Such is the way of Nature.

293/366 Stigmella aceris

19 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by in autumn, insects, leaves, trees

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I’ve been hunting for leaf mines in recent days, the mines made by the larvae of the micro moth Stigmella aceris, which can be found at this time of year on the leaves of Norway and Field maples. Unfortunately, I haven’t made any finds of my own but my Twitter pal Gareth had the honour of finding the first mines in the Vale of Glamorgan last week so I went and checked out his find site to get a look at the mines for myself.

201019 leafmine (1)

According to the UK Moths website, this moth was classified as rare until 40 years ago, when it began increasing its range ‘dramatically’. It can now be found throughout central and southern England, and also in south Wales – it was found for the first time in Cardiff in November 2019.

201019 leafmine (2)

I’ve never seen the adult moth, which has the common name of Scarce maple pigmy – and probably never will – but you can see a photo of it on the British Lepidoptera weebly site here.

And now I’m heading out to check more Maple trees before their leaves all fall and turn to mush …

201019 leafmine (5)

255/366 Knot grass larvae

11 Friday Sep 2020

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When I spotted this caterpillar yesterday, I didn’t think I’d seen one like it before but, when one of my Twitter pals later identified it for me, I realised I had seen one previously, though a younger model.

These are the larvae of the Knot grass moth (Acronicta rumicis), a moth I’ve never seen (you can see what the adult moth looks like and read more about it on the UK Moths website). I think the larva above, found munching on Dyer’s greenweed at Cosmeston on 4 June, is an early instar, whereas the larva below, found feeding on Common ragwort at Lavernock Nature Reserve on 10 September and a real stunner, is almost ready to pupate for the winter.

200911 knot grass larva (3)

234/366 Tiger hunting

21 Friday Aug 2020

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As many local events in Nature’s calendar have been tracking a couple of weeks earlier than usual this year, I first started this year’s tiger hunting ten days ago but it took three visits to Lavernock Nature Reserve and much staring at the flowers of Hemp-agrimony before I finally found a tiger.

200821 jersey tiger (1)

I am not, of course, talking about the big cats – I am vehemently opposed to all hunting! My hunt was for the gorgeous moth that is the Jersey tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria).

200821 jersey tiger (2)

Having spread northwards in southern England, from Devon in to Somerset, these moths tackled the watery expanse of the Bristol Channel in stages, recorded on the island of Flat Holm in 2008 but not making the final flight across to the south Wales coast until 2012.

200821 jersey tiger (3)

Though they have avoided big city Cardiff – the single Cardiff record thus far was in 2017, the Jersey tiger now appears to be well established along a section of the Vale of Glamorgan coastline, from Penarth to Barry, and presumably it will spread further as climate and environmental conditions allow.

200821 jersey tiger (4)

Last Monday, 17 August, I spotted these two, feeding quite close together, at Lavernock (the first two photos here are one moth; the other three show the second tiger). Though they have been recorded on various flowers, I’ve only ever seen them on Hemp-agrimony, which is one of the food plants used by their larvae. I live in hope of finding one of their funky-looking caterpillars but I was over the moon to see my first tigers of the year.

200821 jersey tiger (5)

228/366 Mothing, accidentally

15 Saturday Aug 2020

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It seems surprising to me that a rainy day walk can turn up moth sightings. I’m not talking about heavy rain – I probably wouldn’t be out in that – just a very slight drizzle, which in this week’s heat was actually quite refreshing. Only a few hardy Meadow brown butterflies flitted up as I passed by but the moths were more frequent than I expected.

200815 silver y

Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
Late summer through to mid autumn is probably the best time to see these distinctive immigrants, though some hardy souls do manage to breed in Britain. I imagine this one wafting in from the Continent on last week’s hot southerly winds.

200815 pyrausta purpuralis

Common purple-and-gold (Pyrausta purpuralis)
I’ve seen quite a few of these tiny moths during my daily meanders, presumably because they have two broods each year and the second brood emerges right about now, July-August.

200815 Shaded broad-bar

Shaded broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)
Two of these beauties have popped up for me recently, one at Grangemoor Park, the other at Cosmeston, both quite light in colour, though a quick look at the images on the Butterfly Conservation website will show how variable they can be.

200815 Agriphila tristella

Common grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
I tend to avoid photographing the many grass moths that, like crickets and grasshoppers, flit up as my legs disturb them when I’m walking through longish grass or wildflowers, because they can be difficult to identify. Luckily, my local Twitter pal George, a senior moth ecologist at Butterfly Conservation, was able to put a name to this one very quickly. It’s a common grassland species that flies from June through to September.

217/366 Lep larvae

04 Tuesday Aug 2020

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Last week we had a closer look at a couple of butterfly eggs; today we have some Lepidoptera larvae. First up, the caterpillars of the beautiful Small tortoiseshell butterfly, which has two generations of eggs and larvae each year – these will be second generation. The eggs are laid in batches and, when they hatch, the caterpillars stay together to create a communal web where they shelter when they’re not out basking in the sun or munching on nettles. The caterpillars go through five stages (instars) before pupating – these look to be 3rd instars.

200804 small tortoiseshell (1)

In total contrast to the Small tortoiseshell larvae, which are subtle and subdued in their colour and patterns, the larvae of the Cinnabar moth are vibrant, even flamboyant. Their bright orange and black stripes are designed to be seen, warning predators not to eat them as they are poisonous.

200804 cinnabar moth (1)200804 cinnabar moth (2)