Tag Archives: moth

When is a 5-spot not?

08 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in insects, nature

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Meet Henderson Cuthert. He’s a 5-spot Burnet moth caterpillar and, though he will never know it, he has been a brilliant help to me in determining whether all the Burnet moths I keep seeing at my local cemetery are 5-spot Burnets or Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnets. The two moths are almost impossible to tell apart but the length of the hairs on their caterpillars is a determining factor – short for 5-spot, long for Narrow-bordered 5-spot. And it’s likely that there is a colony of just one species at the cemetery rather than both.

160709 5-spot Burnet caterpillar (1)

You may well wonder why my little friend is called Henderson Cuthbert (and you may well think me more than a little crazy when I explain). The events were as follows:
Day 1: Caterpillar spotted in front of grave of a husband and wife named Henderson. Photos taken, name filed in memory so I could remember where he was located.
Day 2: I had a sneaky feeling he was getting ready to pupate so returned to see what was happening … and he was, though he had only spun the thinnest of coverings at that stage. The weather was lousy and he looked like getting hammered by a nearby bush so I relocated his piece of grass to the grave opposite. The surname on that headstone was Cuthbert (thus Henderson Cuthbert).

But wait, there’s more …
Day 3: Initially, I thought the pupa had to be examined to determine species, so I returned again and carefully brought Henderson Cuthbert home with me, though I was rather devastated that he might have to sacrifice his life in the name of biological recording.
Day 4: I discovered my mistake, sent photos rather than pupa for identification, and little H.C. gets to live to be a moth. Delight!
Day 5: That’s tomorrow. I will take H.C. back to the cemetery so he can complete his life cycle in peace.

Many thanks to County Recorder Dave Slade for help in identifying Henderson Cuthbert.

Three moths in one day

20 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in insects, nature, nature photography

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The day I did my biodiversity hunt at Cathays Cemetery was a bumper day for moths, with three new species spotted.

The first was this beautiful Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolata), not to be confused with the butterfly of the same name, though both are a mellow buttery yellow. I was flat out on the grass photographing this when a group of young school children passed by. ‘Teacher, what’s that lady doing?’ ‘I don’t know, David’, came the reply, as the teacher quickly ushered her charges past the mad lady lying down in the cemetery!

The Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is a colourful character. It starts out life as a bright orange and black caterpillar, then transforms into a bright red and black moth – it gets its name from the bright red mineral mercury sulphide, also known as cinnabar. The caterpillars can be cannibalistic when their food source is scarce and, though I never saw them there, these moths were introduced to New Zealand in an attempt to control the invasive ragwort plant on which their caterpillars feed.

Last but certainly not least, as I saw several of these in one small area, was the Burnet companion (Euclidia glyphica). It apparently gets its common name from the fact that it’s often seen in the company of Burnet moths – not on this day! I make no excuses for showing its bottom, as the colour of its underside is a rich orange, almost more attractive than its top. Though they were mostly skittish, one very obligingly remained still long enough to get a head-on shot, which I love.

Sleeping caterpillar

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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You never know what might be lurking under a piece of bark on a dead tree but I certainly didn’t expect this little guy, especially in the middle of winter. It’s the caterpillar of the Large Yellow Underwing moth (Noctua pronuba) and, as well as being one of Britain’s most common moths, it can also be found throughout Europe and the Middle East, in central Asia and in North America. This moth also migrates so often arrives in southern Britain in huge numbers.

160121 Large Yellow Underwing moth caterpillar

Though the moth is a harmless nectar-feeder, the caterpillar is a ‘cutworm’, a nasty critter that chews through the base of herbaceous plants, both in the garden and on the farm, causing the plants to die. Though I would have expected it to overwinter as a pupa, it seems these minibeasts usually overwinter in their final caterpillar stage and, in mild weather, even emerge to continue feeding. This little guy certainly had a cosy spot for himself under the tree bark … until I came along.

Big thanks to Steve Ogden at Wildlife Insight, who very kindly identified this caterpillar for me. Check out his most excellent website on British moths and butterflies, birds and things to see when watching the sea.