SP9326: 14/04/18 - Two new garden moths

Tmin: 10.4°C; W: light air; P: 0mm;

Following the warmest April day since 1949 it was inevitable the trap was going to be deployed. Expectations were realised with the addition of two new species to the garden records. Weather has limited the amount of trapping this time of year, so there are some glaring omissions to the garden list, however, neither of last night's debutants were expected.

First up was a Tawny Pinion (Lithophane semibrunnea) which, by chance, was fresh in my mind having recently viewed an image of one on social media. This specie hibernates through winter, appearing again in the spring. The food plant is mainly Ash (Fraxinus excelsior).

VC30 Status: rare resident;

2235 Tawny Pinion

2235 Tawny Pinion

Also new was Semioscopis steinkellneriana :-


VC30 Status: 20 records of 13 individuals - so quite rare despite the larvae feeding on blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and hawthorn (Crataegus).

667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana

0667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana -1
0998 Epiphyas postvittana -1
1288 Twenty Plume Moth -1
1428 Bee Moth -1
1917 Early Thorn -1
2182 Small Quaker -1
2186 Powdered Quaker -1
2187 Common Quaker -2
2188 Clouded Drab -1
2235 Tawny Pinion -1
2258 The Chestnut -1

SP9326: 14/04/18 - New: Brindled Beauty

Tmin: 6.9°C; W: SE 0-3mph; P: 1mm;

A short, sharp shower drenched the trap an hour or so after dusk. The rain RADAR hinted that would be it for the night so the trap was left out. Fortuitously, daylight revealed a new moth for the garden - Brindled Beauty  Lycia hirtaria. A variable moth of which it is the male that comes to light.

VC30 Status: common resident;

1927 Brindled Beauty