Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Sixty-six

LewesWildlife
, 22 May 2020
Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Sixty-six

This weekend's Back Garden Bird Race will be Sunday 24 May (10-11).

All the information, rules, I.D guides, downloadable phone app and t-shirts are on the Bird Race website here

Day Sixty-six

Well, last week's moth trap was a complete disaster. There were no moths but an awful lot of Cockchafers / Maybugs. Still, I made a nice little May Bug Movie (here) which was used a lot on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media and has apparently been viewed 10,000 times. Hopefully that's the only time I go viral during this pandemic.

This week the night-time temperatures have increased so I fired up the ol' moth trap last night. 

P1050232

I woke up this morning at 5:30 and went out and looked through the trap, noting down the species from the survey to send to the Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre. It wasn't a bad night...not great mind you...but not bad either.  I photographed some of my favourites for you.

We already have a Brimstone butterfly but this distinctive yellow little moth is a Brimstone Moth. They must have been running out of names. We also have a Peacock Butterfly and a Peacock Moth. And, now I think of it, a Peacock bird.

P1050109

I love green moths and the Green Carpet is a beauty. It's a beauty that fades pretty fast though. The first Green carpets you see are always a lovely shade of gree but this colour seems to fade very quickly and can become very washed out. There are a few moths called 'carpets' - they're named after the fancy patterned carpets that were all the rage back in the Victorian era.

P1050113

There was another Green Carpet in the trap which was already starting to fade.

P1050262

I had quite a few carpets in the trap last night including Sandy Carpet


P1050309

...Broken-barred Carpet

P1050241

...Red-green Carpet

P1050279

and Silver-ground Carpet

P1050267

This is a Flame Shoulder . It's a great name and, to be honest, I think it sort of over-sells it a bit. I mean it does have pale 'shoulders' but...'flames'. I'm not so sure.

P1050280

There is something unique about this moth though. It has a strange habit of sneaking into the ears of moth trappers. Over the years whenever a moth trapper has a moth stuck in their ear (a very rare occurence) it's always been the same species...a Flame Shoulder. An old moth trapping friend Mike had a moth stuck in his ear once. He had to go to hospital to have it removed - which they did with specialist equipment. They discarded the moth in the bin and he had to dig it out and....it was a Flame Shoulder. We should call it the 'Ear Moth' (except that there's already a moth called an Ear Moth which, to my knowledge, has never flown into anybody's ear).

You can divide the 2500 (or so) moths in the UK into two arbitary groups. There's the micro-moths (the small ones) and the macro moths (the big ones). In reality it's not that simple as some of the micro moths are bigger than the macro moths and some of the macro moths are smaller than the micros moths. Here's a micro moth the Small Magpie. One of our biggest small moths. If you see what I mean. 

P1050101

I can still remember finding my first Scorched Wing in woods near Lewes. I was amazed by its cryptic camouflage then - and I still am now.

P1050247

...and I love the way they stick their abdomen up in the air

P1050245

There are a number of 'footmen' moths in Sussex - so called because their long wings are held wrapped around their body like the cloaks worn by footmen on carriages. This is an Orange Footman.

P1050265

These two moths illustrate the point that, when identifying moths, it's all about the pattern - not the colour. They are both the same species, the (very variable) Common Marbled Carpet.

P1050259

P1050283

Love this little moth - the Green Oak Tortrix

P1050266

The Muslin Moth was the only moth I had in the trap last Friday morning - there were a few of them in there this morning.

P1050269

Check out it's feathered antennae - used to detect the pheremones of a female moth.

P1050318

The Silver-Y is a migrant moth which arrives in big numbers each year from the continent. They just rise up, hook onto the airstream and whizz over to the UK. You can see the upside-down silver 'y' mark on its wing that gives the moth its name. 

P1050273

Check out this monster! Always great to see the first hawkmoth of the year - a Poplar Hawkmoth. The are certainly popular when I run moth trapping events and they usually end up on some child's nose. The Poplar Hawkmoth has a clever camouflage trick. It moves it's hindwings forward and its forewings backward to create a very un-moth like posture.

P1050290

P1050288

P1050295

I have a soft spot for the 'prominent' moths. They just sort of lie there and keep there heads down but they are fascinating. Here's the Pebble Prominent which has one of my favourite scientific names - Notodonta ziczac

P1050110

The Pale Prominent looks like a piece of splintered wood. Incredible camouflage. It's hard to tell which end is which.

P1050276

I mean. What's going on here? Amazing. 

P1050278

And here's the daddy of 'em all - the Great Prominent

P1050313

From head-on the Spectacle looks like it is wearing glasses. Kinda reminds me a bit of Gok Wan.

P1050325

Cor - look at this little beauty! The male White Ermine is the Cruella de Vil of the moth world. Stunning. 

P1050127

P1050338

A few species of moths have hooked tips to their wings and so are imaginatively called hook-tips. Here's the Pebble Hook-tip

P1050331

A lovely pale green Light Emerald

P1050302

My favourite moth in the trap this morning was this Alder Moth. I think they're one of the UKs most beautiful moths.

P1050137

and we'll finish with a Clouded Border - simple yet stunning (sorry it's upside-down but it was on my dressing gown).

Clouded





Leave a comment

Comments

  • Mary:

    Fabulous, what a round-up! Was that a typical moth-trap hall or a particularly good night?

    Michael: Thanks Mary - it was still a below average night. It was a bit too windy!

    22 May 2020 09:11:00

  • Tessa Pawsey:

    Magical, thank you. And thank you for all the diary entries which are so interesting and inspiring. it is very good to be reminded that we have such great natural things surrounding us all the time without having to go very far.

    22 May 2020 09:49:00

  • Robin Harris:

    Great stuff, Michael. Surely your pics and commentary will convince any reader of the wonderful world that darkness hides. Sorry my 40w Actinic doesn’t rival your MV yet this year! But I did trap a Peacock (moth) a couple of nights ago and the Maybugs just keep on coming.

    22 May 2020 10:34:00

  • Ginny-Vic:

    Wow! I have never seen so many moths and I didn’t realise how pretty they are. How did you get them all to stay so still while you photographed them all? I’ve only really seen brown ones that flap really fast. I’m sorry but you really lost me with micro and macro bit. Maybe Gok could use the colours and patterns for fabric inspiration! I think some of the patterns would make lovely ideas for material!

    22 May 2020 12:56:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783194901.31970 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783194901.35190.0321Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783194901.3520.0002Server address: 216.73.217.177
1783194901.35210.0001Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783194901.35210Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six
    [s] => corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six
    [1] => corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six
)
1783194901.35240.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.3540.0016 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783194901.35650.0025 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22625571
1783194901.35740.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22625571
1783194901.36060.0032 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-04 19:55:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-04 19:55:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783194901.36240.0019 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 19:55:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783194901.36590.0035 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783194901.36690.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2184 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 19:55:00'
1783194901.36830.0014 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783194901.37050.0022 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783194901.37180.0013 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=33 LIMIT 1
1783194901.37290.001Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783194901.37330.0005 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783194901.37450.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 19:55:00' AND postSlug='corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six'
1783194901.41320.0387Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783194901.41380.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783194901.41630.0025Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783194901.41660.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783194901.41810.0014 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783194901.41980.0017 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783194901.42420.0044 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.42620.002 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783194901.43140.0052Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783194901.43140.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.43290.0014 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.43360.0007 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.43790.0043 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.43930.0014 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.44020.0009 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783194901.44340.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.44470.0013 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783194901.44730.0026 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783194901.44790.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783194901.44820.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='3' LIMIT 1
1783194901.44920.0011Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783194901.44970.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='corona-wildlife-diary-day-sixty-six')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 19:55:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783194901.45230.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783194901.45450.0021 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783194901.45690.0025Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783194901.4580.001 [4] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2184 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783194901.5150.057 [4] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783194901.51630.0013Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783194901.51660.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='3' LIMIT 1
1783194901.51780.0012 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783194901.51880.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783194901.520.0011 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783194901.52340.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.52440.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783194901.52720.0028 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783194901.52810.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783194901.52940.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783194901.53030.0009 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783194901.53330.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.53410.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783194901.53640.0023 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783194901.54010.0037 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783194901.54140.0012 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783194901.54240.001 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783194901.54520.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.54610.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783194901.54980.0037 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783194901.55410.0043 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783194901.55540.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783194901.55630.0009 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783194901.55940.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783194901.56030.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783194901.56290.0027 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783194901.56410.0011Request time: 0.246
1783194901.56410Process time: 0.2457
1783194901.56410Memory: 1.6646