Some Moths during August

 The hot and dry summer continued into August but by the latter half of the month the weather was starting to change, with overnight conditions becoming blustery and showery.

The moth-trap has continued to produce some interesting moths and the undoubted highlight of the month was the appearance of my first ever Striped Hawkmoth (Hyles livornica). This handsome species arrives in Britain as a migrant from the European mainland most years but numbers are generally small. In recent years however, they have been arriving in greater numbers along the coastal plain of Sussex and I had noted with envy reports of them appearing at moth-traps just a few miles away from my garden.

Striped Hawkmoth (Hyles livornica)

Orange Swift (Hepialus sylvina) (female)

Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria falcataria) (2nd brood)

Birch Mocha (Cyclophora albipunctata) (form subroseata) (2nd brood)

Maiden's Blush (Cyclophora punctaria) (2nd brood)

Clay Triple-lines (Cyclophora linearia) (2nd brood)

Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata bilineata)

Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata) (2nd brood)

Tawny-barred Angle (Macaria liturata) (2nd brood)

September Thorn (Ennomos erosaria) (male)

Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinguaria)

Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) (male)

Rosy Footman (Miltochrista miniata)

Six-striped Rustic (Xestia sexstrigata)

Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)

Toadflax Brocade (Calophasia lunula)

Straw Underwing (Thalpophila matura)

Rosy Rustic (Hydraecia micacea)

Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltigera)

Green Silver-lines (Pseudoips prasinana britannica)

This specimen is an aberrant, with very similar wing stripes to the Scarce Silver-lines (Bena bicolorana). I don't think that these two species are closely related enough to hybridise but it has certainly had me scratching my head.

Pyrausta purpuralis

European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) (female)

Some Moths during May

 With news from several online sources, that there has been a large migration of Striped Hawkmoths (Hyles livornica) arriving in Britain from the continent in recent weeks, I have been putting the moth-trap out on most suitable nights during the latter half of May.

Being sixteen miles inland from the south coast, the chances of attracting one of these beauties are slim but I have started to see a couple of resident hawkmoth species coming to the garden light. 

Here is a collection of moths that have visited my garden during May.

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) 

Eyed Hawkmoth (Smerinthus ocellata)

Puss Moth (Cerura vinula)

Alder Kitten (Furcula bicuspis)

Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac)

Coxcomb Prominent (Ptilodon capucina)

Marbled Brown (Drymonia dodonaea)

Buff-tip (Phalera bucephala)

Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda)

(male, form concolor)

(female)

White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae)

Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis)

Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus) (male)

Garden Pebble (Evergestis forficalis)

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata)

Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata)

Grey Pine Carpet (Thera obeliscata)

May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata)

Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata)

Sharp-angled Peacock (Macaria alternata)

Pale Oak Beauty (Hypomecis punctinalis)

Brussels Lace (Cleorodes lichenaria)

Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata)

Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis)

Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica mendica)

Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)

Delicate (Mythimna vitellina)

Toadflax Brocade (Calophasia lunula)

Alder Moth (Acronicta alni)

Marbled White Spot (Protodeltote pygarga)

Green Silver-lines (Pseudoips prasinana britannica)