July II / August / Home/ The garden / email
July III
July 24th and time to start another page.
The weather seems a little more
settled and we have been promised sun for the next few days, I do hope that the
forecasters have managed to get it right, we do need a summer. I did put the
moth trap out on the 22nd despite the forecast as it looked as if the rain had
passed, we then had a thunder storm but fortunately nothing happened to the
trap and there were a good number of moths in it on the 23rd. However the
highlight of the evening was to be found by the outside light at the front of
the house. I rather wonder if moths are the origin of fairies as the large
emerald, Geometra papilionaria, photographed on my fingertip looks
rather like a cross little fairy I think. The picture will open up if clicked
on, as will most of those on the page to display a little better detail.
Last night the moth trap produced 5 new species of moth as far as I was concerned but I only include the pictures that I took of the iron prominent, Notodonta dromedaries, and that of the small emerald, hemistola chrysoprasaria, which incidentally is not new but I do like the green moths!
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iron prominent with wings open. |
iron prominent in usually resting position |
small emerald. |
Before you think that I have not been
looking round the garden during the day or that Pete has not been alerting me
to photo opportunities, here are 2 photos, 1 of the peacock butterfly which
along with some gate keepers and meadow browns was enjoying a hebe that is in
flower now, and 1 of a meadow grasshopper, chorthippus parallelus, which I am
told is very common in almost all of Britain. It certainly was common in our
garden yesterday afternoon when at least 8 were in close proximity on various
walls etc. on our back patio.
The moth trap produced another 3 new species last night, one of which is a master of camouflage I suspect. The Pale prominent, Pterostoma palpina, in the right setting must look like a piece of old twig. I managed to take a close-up photograph of it's head showing how it is gripping the leaf with it's front legs. The other two new moths are in the geometridae family, the shaded broad-bar, Scotopteryx chenopodiata and the willow beauty, Peribatodes rhomboidaria.
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pale prominent |
pale prominent head |
shaded broad-bar |
willow beauty |
July 28th and after a couple of busy days looking after my grandson time to catch up with the diary. Amazingly I managed to find 3 new species on the morning of the 26th in spite of not putting out a moth trap and the 27th only produced 1. I am now having to be aware of wasps and other stinging insects that might be attracted to the light, last night around our outside light there were 5 wasps and I was reluctant to disturb them to take too close a look at a pug that was settled near them.
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Agapeta zoegana |
common carpet, |
large twin-spot carpet, |
nut-tree tussock, |
round-winged muslin, |
I think the agapeta zoegana is a pretty little moth and was quite fortunate in seeing it as it is less than my thumbnail in length and was by the front door. The common carpet was the only new species found in the moth trap on 27th, the large twin-spot carpet being one found on the outside wall on the evening if 25/26th, the round-winged muslin was on the outside wall last night when I decided to again give the moth trap a rest. There is a bit of a tale with the nut-tree tussock. The first picture I obtained of this moth on the morning of 26th was not very good quality as I had to lean out of our bedroom window attempting to take it while it rested on the wall beneath our bay window. I must be mad as I had to move furniture to get there as well as taking out secondary double glazing which is heavy! The following morning there was another one on the outside door where it was very easily accessible.
Only 2 more days to the end of July and the year seems to have flown by. The weather was hot and sunny yesterday so it seemed a good night to put the moth trap out again. There were three new species as far as I was concerned and several old favourites o ne of which I include here, the brimstone.
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barred fruit-tree tortrix, |
latticed heath, |
straw underwing, |
brimstone, |
The last day of the month has dawned bright although as the day progresses there is cloud forming and the humidity is increasing with the warmth. Last night produced 3 new species for me in the moth trap and a further new one was identified by Brian Goodey of Essex Moths, this had appeared on the patio doors the night before last. Last night's moths are the oak eggar, lasiocampa quercus, small white wave, asthenia albulata, and Agriphila selasella. The moth from 29th was Carcina quercana, a pretty little Oecophorid but one which I mistook for a tortrix and therefore had difficulty identifying.
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oak eggar, |
white wave, |
Agriphila selasella |
Carcina quercana |
