Over the last few weeks we’ve been continuing to run our moth
trap at the NNR base at Bank Island on as many suitable nights as possible. The
moths are attracted to a mercury vapour bulb, before dropping down into a
collecting bucket, and then into egg boxes where they will then spend the night
before being released, unharmed, in the morning. This long-term monitoring
of our local moth populations is invaluable data which helps build up a
national picture, when combined with the records of thousands of other moth
recorders in the country. We’ve had some really attractive and wonderfully
named moths in the trap recently – Burnished Brass (pictured below), Small Magpie and Beautiful
Golden Y, along with Flame, Mother of Pearl, Heart and Dart, Bright-line
Brown-eye and Treble Lines.
Whilst some species are much rarer than they
were, several
species have also arrived and become widespread and common over that
time. As mentioned in an earlier post, you don’t need a proper or
expensive trap to survey moths in your garden – just a light source and white
sheet on the ground will do, and don’t forgot to let us know what you find or
send your records into the county moth recorder to help monitor population
trends going forward. It’s been a good year so far for many species, including the various hawk-moths that have been frequenting our light
traps on the reserve. The Poplar Hawk-moth
is perhaps the commonest of our hawk-moths in the UK, and has a distinct
posture when seen at rest, with the hindwings held forward of the forewings and
the abdomen curved upwards at the rear. If disturbed it can flash the
hindwings, which have a contrasting rufous red patch, normally hidden to alarm
and discourage potential predators. The adult moths don’t feed during
their relatively short time on the wing, and the caterpillars feed not only on
Poplar as their name suggests but also Aspen and Willow. Interestingly the
females are attracted to light earlier in the night, often before midnight,
with the males later, after midnight, and in greater numbers.
An equally stunning species, although much less caught, is the Eyed Hawk-Moth, pictured below.
Having overwintered as shiny black/brown pupae, either below or near Willow or
Apple Trees (the larval foodplant), the adults, which do not feed, can be seen
on the wing from May to July. The pink hindwings are decorated with black and
blue ‘eyes’, making them look rather striking and beautiful, however they are
in fact a really clever disguise used to flash at and put off would be
predators like birds.
The Poplar Hawk-moth might be more common, but the most caught hawk-moth in our trap this year has been the fantastic Elephant
Hawk-moth, with 38 recently in just a single catch. This stunning pink and olive-green moth (pictured below), is
on the wing from May to early August and gets its name from the caterpillar,
which is said to look like an elephant’s trunk. That, combined with the two
large ‘eye-like’ markings behind the head also give the caterpillar, which can
reach up to 85mm in size, an even larger ‘animal-like’ appearance to
startle potential predators. The larvae of the moth can be found wherever
Rosebay Willowherb is found, and as such the moth can be attracted to light in
a range of habitats such as rough grassland, waste ground, hedgerows, heathland,
woodland rides and gardens. Although looking like some exotic rarity, it
is in fact a rather common moth, well distributed throughout England and Wales,
and is yet another species slowly spreading northwards. Let us know if you
come across any adults, or more likely caterpillars wandering in your garden,
and feel free to post any sightings and photographs on our page, thank you.
Perhaps a much 'duller' species compared with the stunning beauty of the hawk-moths above, another species caught recently is the Chinese
Character which is beautiful in its own way (pictured below). Chinese Characters use visual mimicry to avoid being
eaten when at rest - during the day they will sit with their wings held over
their body, and combined with a white, brown and grey wing pattern they are
well camouflaged and closely resemble a bird dropping! The caterpillars feed on Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Crab
Apples, and they can be found in a range of habitats where those occur -
hedgerows, scrub and open woodland as well as gardens. They will be on the wing
from now onwards until September (with generations in April-June and
July-September) – so get checking all those bird droppings – they might not be
what they first appear!
No comments:
Post a Comment