Some Moths during September

After the heatwaves of summer, the weather during September has more-or-less returned to normal for the time of the year. The moth trap has continued to produce some interesting catches.

Blue Underwing (Catocala fraxini)

Blair's Mocha (Cyclophora puppillaria)

This is a first record for my garden.

Vestal (Rhodometra sacraria)

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata)

Treble-bar (Aplocera plagiata plagiata)

September Thorn (Ennomos erosaria)

Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria) (2nd brood)

Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata) (2nd brood)

Palpita vitrealis

Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

Feathered Gothic (Tholera decimalis) (female)

L-album Wainscot (Mythimna l-album)

Black Rustic (Aporophyla nigra)

Brindled Green (Dryobotodes eremita)

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)

Orange Sallow (Xanthia citrago)

Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago)

Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua)

Clancy's Rustic (Platyperigea kadenii)

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

 In Britain, native populations of the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura pumilio) seem to predominate in scattered areas of south-west and south-central England and into Wales. Living in Sussex, the nearest populations were in the New Forest area of Hampshire but I have never managed to find any.

In recent years however, this species has been recorded in one or two isolated populations in West Sussex and during the last two years it has been found in three small populations in East Sussex. With our warming climate in south-east England, it seems likely that this species has made the journey across the channel from mainland Europe.

In July, following information from a friend, I managed to connect with this diminutive little damselfly.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura pumilio)

(males)

(This male was stretching and preening)

(mating pair)

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)