Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Eighty-seven

LewesWildlife
, 12 June 2020
Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Eighty-seven

The uplifting role that wildlife plays in our lives has become more vital than ever. So, for my own sanity as much as anything, I’m have been keeping a daily diary of what I find around my garden. Post your pictures on the ‘Sussex Wildlife Trust Nature Table’ page

Day Eighty-seven.

I haven't put out my moth trap in a while and, while last night's weather looked a bit breezy, I couldn't resist so I fired it up and had some nice surprises this morning. 

I'll never get tired of finding Elephant Hawkmoths in the trap.

These moths are common throughout Sussex and you'll probably have them flying around your street every night at this time of year. But just look how fabulous they look. 

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Ridiculous. Surely, that moth would be more at home in Honduras not Henfield. They will lay eggs on willowherb or fuchsia and their elephant's trunk-like caterpillar will munch for a few months before climbing off the plant in September. The caterpillar will then march around for a bit looking for some soft soil where it can pupate and that's when you may see it. Around September I always get a flurry of emails and photos from people asking 'what on Earth is this?. I've had people described it as a 'sausage with legs' and a 'baby alligator'. It's neither (although I'd love to see both in my garden). 

And if the Elephant Hawkmoth is too big for you, we have it in another size. The Small Elephant Hawkmoth.

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Just as pretty in pink. Their caterpillars feed on bedstraws.

I had a few in these in the trap last night so I've arranged them in a squadron formation - The Pink Arrows.

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Also in the trap was this lovely Brimstone Moth. Very common. I thought it went well with the pink.

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There was Poplar Hawkmoth in there too. 

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Here's a Snout, it's upturned palps give the impression it has a long nose.

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This Common Purple and Gold moth (Pyrausta purpuralis)  is common in gardens especially around mint plants.

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Some of our moths have incredible metallic wings - silver, gold or in this case Burnished Brass

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This Angle Shades was too cool to actually go into the trap. It was just hanging out on a nearby leaf.

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Love these moths - Cinnabars. You'll know their yellow and black Ragwort-eating caterpillars

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Look at these crazy antennae on such a tiny little moth - the Large Long-horn Nematopogon swammerdamella

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It's not all moths in the moth trap. You often see these ichneumon wasps (this one is from the Ophion genus.) There are 2,300 different species of ichneumons in the UK and while many are distinctive and brightly coloured they are hard to identify. 

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Caddisflies are also common in moth traps too. There are almost 300 species of Caddisfly in the U.K and they can also be tricky to i.d. but I reckon this is Mystacisdes longicornis. Their larva are aquatic so this one may well have emerged from my pond.

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Was thinking of a song to put here and remembered the 'Pink Elephants on Parade' routine from Disney's Dumbo (here).

As a young boy I found this part of the film utterly terrifying. I'm still not too comfortable watching it now. 

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Comments

  • GORDON MCGOOCHAN:

    Another fascinating article, thanks Michael.

    12 Jun 2020 16:04:00

  • Clare:

    Amazing pictures… The wonders of nature (and modern technology)! Thankyou for a great moth trap.. I didn’teven have to get up early.!

    13 Jun 2020 13:31:00

  • Ginny-Vic:

    Such an astounding collection of moths. I love that pink. That is a very trendy moth. I really want you to train the pink arrows flight formation to do a loop the loop! Maybe you could do it with a light? If I was a fashion designer I would use moths as inspiration for fabric! They are so beautiful.

    13 Jun 2020 19:06:00

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