Tags
Apodia bifractella, Apodia martinii, British butterflies, British lepidoptera, British moths, Brown argus, Clouded yellow f. helice, Coleophora conyzae, Common blue, Common purple & gold, Eupithecia sp caterpillar, lepidoptera on Common fleabane, Pyrausta purpuralis, Small white
As I wrote in Sunday’s blog about Drought-tolerant Common fleabane, the number of insects I’ve been seeing feeding on these plants gives me hope for their survival of this summer’s heat and drought. These are some of the Lepidoptera species I’ve seen, starting with the butterflies.
As well as these Common blue, Small white, Clouded yellow f. helice (my first of this pale colouration this year), and Brown argus, I’ve also spotted Meadow brown on the local fleabane flowers.
Next, the moths, both larvae and adults. The first is a caterpillar of one of the Pug moths (Eupithecia sp.), and the second, hiding in its self-made case, is Coleophora conyzae, a new species for me and a rare moth in Wales, with only 15 records to date.
The dark moth is Apodia bifractella, another that was new to me, though a moth that’s listed as common on the UK Moths website (n.b. it seems to have had a very recent name change to Apodia martinii). The final moth is the stunning Common purple & gold (Pyrausta purpuralis) – I’ve seen several of these enjoying the nutrients provided by Common fleabane flowers.
