Garden Moths 19/06/2020

Last night's moth trapping session was completed over the first dry night of the week, and the resultant 32 moths of 13 species have been quite challenging to identify. The temperature overnight was down to 11 degrees, which is nothing special and may account for the modest numbers.

Its always nice when you turn over an egg box and you find yourself looking at a moth you know you haven't seen before. This morning it was a moth which could have been either a micro or a macro. Having leafed through the macro book, I started on the micros and found it in the Tortrix family. It was a whacking great big tortrix called Lozotaenia forsterana.

Lozotaenia forsterana

Perhaps I have been bigging it up a bit too much. It was only the size of a finger-nail, but that's big for a tortrix moth.

The other one which was a tick didn't stand out at all. In fact I thought it was something else until I started comparing it to photos on the Internet. That was when I realised I had caught a Variegated Golden Tortrix, new for the garden.

Variegated Golden Tortrix

Initially I had thought it was a Red-barred Tortrix, but the resemblance proved only superficial. One other micro which provoked a lot of research I eventually identified as just a faded Plum Tortrix, a diagnosis that was later confirmed.

The macro moths were just as tricky. There is a species group which I thought I had sorted out, but it seems likely I haven't yet. I give you moth A.

Uncertain/Rustic

My gut feel is that this is an Uncertain, but I have not had it checked and it may actually be a Rustic. The kidney marks are chocolate brown centred, and there is a dark line linking them, albeit a rather faint one.

Moth B.

Rustic

I suspected this moth was a Rustic and I have had it confirmed as likely to be one. However, even the expert couldn't give it an unequivocal identification. The kidney marks are almost the same colour as the rest of the forewing, and the dark bar linking them is even fainter than in Moth A.

Moth C

Uncertain

This moth was so pale and contrasty that I actually thought it could be a Mottled Rustic. However, its been checked and is definitely an Uncertain. But its unlike any I have seen before.

I somehow overlooked the other moth which was new to the year until I had replaced all the egg boxes back in the trap and had moved it indoors. Out popped a Double Square-spot, an easy moth to identify as long as you ignore the possibility of the much rarer Triple-spotted Clay.

Double Square-spot

Anyway its identity was confirmed by UKmothID from the photo, so that's good enough for me.

The full list was:

Variegated Golden Tortrix 1 (nfg)
Lozotaenia forsterana 1 (nfg)
Plum Tortrix 1
Crambus pascuella 2
Garden Grass-veneer 1
Water Veneer 2
Elephant Hawk-moth 1
Buff Ermine 1
Dark Arches 1
Heart and Dart 16
Rustic 1 (nfy)
Uncertain 1
Rustic/Uncertain 2
Double Square-spot 1 (nfy)