Science – Page 38 – David Bradley

Lepidoptera first showing 2019

First appearances in 2019 of various moth species to the scientific trap. Some of these were new for the year (NFY) as I’d seen them in 2018. Some were NFM, new for me.

17 Sep Large Thorn
17 Sep Orange Sallow
15 Sep Clepsis consimilana
15 Sep Beautiful Hook-tip
13 Sep Brown-spot Pinion
13 Sep Barred Sallow
10 Sep Common Marble
7 Sep Centre-barred Sallow
4 Sep Feathered Gothic
4 Sep Eudonia angustea
3 Sep Yellow-line Quaker
25 Aug Frosted Orange
25 Aug Jersey Tiger
7 Aug Straw Underwing
6 Aug White-spotted Pinion
5 Aug The Lychnis
5 Aug Rosy Rustic
5 Aug Wax Moth
4 Aug Twin-spotted Wainscot
4 Aug Pale Prominent
4 Aug Flounced Rustic
4 Aug Red Underwing
30 Jul Yellow-tail
28 Jul Peacock
27 Jul Mouse Moth
27 Jul Oak Eggar
27 Jul Square-spot Rustic
26 Jul Acrobasis suavella
26 Jul Argyrotaenia ljungiana
26 Jul Blastobasis adustella
26 Jul Bordered Pug
26 Jul Garden Rose Tortrix
26 Jul The Crescent
26 Jul Small Scallop
25 Jul Canary-shouldered Thorn
25 Jul Common Carpet
22 Jul Acleris forsskaleana
21 Jul Buff Footman
21 Jul Tree-lichen Beauty
18 Jul Copper Underwing
17 Jul Codling Moth
17 Jul Dusky Sallow
17 Jul Garden Dart
17 Jul Bulrush Wainscot
17 Jul Small Emerald
13 Jul Celypha striana
13 Jul Hypsopygia glaucinalis
13 Jul Ypsolopha scabrella
12 Jul Barred Straw
12 Jul Straw Dot
12 Jul Least Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
12 Jul Box-tree Moth
11 Jul Bordered Sallow
11 Jul Coronet
11 Jul The Herald
11 Jul Lozotaeniodes formosana
11 Jul Marbled Clover
11 Jul Rhyacionia pinicolana
10 Jul Straw Dot
10 Jul Ruby Tiger
9 Jul Meal Moth
7 Jul Small Ranunculus
6 Jul Buff-tip
6 Jul Old Lady
5 Jul Green Silver-lines
5 Jul Lesser/Common Rustic agg.
5 Jul Rose-flounced Tabby
3 Jul Brown-tail
3 Jul Clay
2 Jul Brown-line Bright-eye
1 Jul Morophaga choragella
1 Jul Single-dotted Wave
1 Jul Flame
27 Jun Buff Arches
26 Jun Phoenix
26 Jun Yellow Shell
26 Jun Rustic/Uncertain
26 Jun Small Grey
25 Jun Rhodophaea Formosa
25 Jun Smoky Wainscot
25 Jun Oak Lantern
25 Jun Bramble shoot Moth
24 Jun Barred Yellow
24 Jun Donacaula forficella
24 Jun Elder Pearl
24 Jun Ringed China-mark
24 Jun Swallow-tailed Moth
24 Jun Varied Coronet
23 Jun Dwarf Cream Wave
22 Jun Broad-barred White
22 Jun Clouded Silver
22 Jun Double Square-spot
22 Jun Scorched Wing
22 Jun Thistle Ermine
21 Jun Spinach
21 Jun Lilac Beauty
21 Jun Scalloped Oak
20 Jun Cochylis atricapitana
20 Jun Common Footman
19 Jun Light Arches
19 Jun Mottled Beauty
19 Jun Freyer’s Pug
19 Jun Pyrausta aurata
19 Jun Udea olivalis
19 Jun White Satin Moth
18 Jun Chrysoteuchia culmella
17 Jun Crassa unitella
17 Jun White Plume
16 Jun Agapeta hamana
16 Jun Large Fruit-tree Totrix
15 Jun Foxglove Pug
15 Jun The Shark
14 Jun The Snout
14 Jun Fenland Pearl
13 Jun Bordered White
13 Jun Least Carpet
12 Jun Swallow Prominent
10 Jun Small Elephant Hawk-moth
9 Jun Pale Mottled Willow
8 Jun Gold Spot
8 Jun Green Pug
8 Jun Hawthorn Moth
8 Jun Setaceous Hebrew Character
6 Jun Silver Ground Carpet
6 Jun Privet Hawk-moth
6 Jun Riband Wave
6 Jun Brown House Moth
6 Jun Hook-streak Grass-veneer
4 Jun Peppered Moth
4 Jun Large Nutmeg
3 Jun Elephant Hawk-moth
2 Jun Poplar Grey
2 Jun Burnished Brass
2 Jun Treble Brown Spot
2 Jun Gold triangle
2 Jun Spruce Carpet
1 Jun Small Magpie
1 Jun Dark Arches
1 Jun Buff Ermine
31 May Eyed Hawk-moth
31 May Large Yellow Underwing
29 May Cinnabar
27 May White Ermine
23 Jun Dwarf Cream Wave
28 May White-point
27 May Garden Pebble
26 May Tawny/Marbled Minor agg.
23 May Willow Beauty
22 May Treble Lines
21 May Light Brocade
21 May Oak Hook-tip
20 May Bee Moth
20 May Common Pug
20 May Twenty-plume
20 May Common Marbled Carpet
20 May Apotomis betuletana
20 May The Shears
20 May Common Swift
20 May Dingy Footman
19 May Small Dusty Wave
19 May Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
19 May Pale Tussock
18 May Rustic shoulder-knot
18 May Chocolate Tip
18 May Lime Hawk-moth
18 May Small Clouded Brindle
17 May Flame Shoulder
15 May Coxcomb Prominent
15 May Puss Moth
14 May Heart & Club
14 May White-shouldered House-moth
9 May Vine’s Rustic
8 May Heart & Dart
8 May Light Emerald
8 May Yellow-barred Brindle
3 May Clouded Border
1 May Angle Shades
27 Apr Latticed Heath
25 Apr Maiden’s Blush
24 Apr Turnip
24 Apr Bright-line Brown-eye
24 Apr Least Black Arches
23 Apr Lime-speck Pug
23 Apr Iron Prominent
22 Apr The Spectacle
22 Apr The Nutmeg
22 Apr Pebble Prominent
22 Apr Waved Umber
21 Apr Brimstone
21 Apr Sallow Kitten
21 Apr Beautiful Plume
21 Apr Chinese Character
20 Apr Cabbage Moth
20 Apr Scorched Carpet
19 Apr Red Twin-spot carpet agg.
18 Apr Nut-tree Tussock
18 Apr Pebble Hook-tip
17 Apr Streamer
11 Apr Muslin
7 Apr Shuttle-shaped Dart
20 Mar Emperor
29 Mar Early Thorn
24 Mar Garden Carpet
20 Mar Chestnut
20 Mar March Moth
16 Mar Silver Y
14 Mar Diurnea fagella
14 Mar Double-striped Pug
10 Mar Pale Pinion
9 Mar Dotted Border
8 Mar Early Grey
6 Mar Twin-spotted Quaker
4 Mar Small Quaker
1 Mar Clouded Drab
24 Feb Oak Beauty
23 Feb Hebrew Character
23 Feb Pale Brindled Beauty
22 Feb Common Plume
22 Feb Light-brown Apple Moth
22 Feb Acleris cristana
20 Feb Common Quaker

Moth of the moment – Beautiful Hook-tip (Laspeyria flexula)

As autumn rolls on the number of specimens and the diversity of moths to the scientific trap tend to fall. The dedicated keep lighting up for rarities, vagrants, and of course, the Sallows, the Thorns, later the Merveille du Jour moths and then the December Moths.

Beautiful Hook-tip (Laspeyria flexula) on a chunk of bark, proper shot, taken after the safety shot

That said, it was warm yesterday and stayed balmy all night (minimum of 16 Celsius) albeit a bit wet at some point. So, 93 specimens of 24 species, which is quite a high for mid-September, I think especially given that it was down to 10 species of 35 moths previous trapping night.

Beautiful Hook-tip (Laspeyria flexula) in the lid of the moth pot, safety shot

A new one for me was Beautiful Hook-tip (Laspeyria flexula). It flies June to August and then a small, second brood emerges in September. Increasingly common, the larvae eat lichen growing on a wide range of trees.

Now, some people might wonder why this one is called the Beautiful Hook-tip. Well, it’s got those hooked tips to its wings. but is it beautiful? It certainly is, like any creature created by millions of years of evolution, but also just look at the symmetry, the geometry, the subtle colours and hues of those wings, especially the rusty edges of the forewings curving inwards from their hooked tips. How can you not see that as beautiful?

The arrival of a continental vagrant – Dewick’s Plusia

A beautiful immigrant from Southern Europe turned up in our garden last night, attracted to the 40-Watt ultraviolet light of the scientific moth trap. At first glance, I thought it was a confusing aberration of the Silver Y, but it wasn’t quite right, the Y/gamma didn’t have the Y-shape and the other markings and overall shape were wrong. It turns out it is quite a rare vagrant visitor to the British Isles – Dewick’s Plusia, Macdunnoughia confusa (Stephens, 1850).

Dewick’s Plusia, Macdunnoughia confusa (Stephens, 1850)

In the 20th Century it was recorded only a few dozen times, and is generally seen on the south and east coasts when it does hit our shores, most commonly in August but can appear any time between July and October. However, records are close to 500 now.

Anyway, it’s the middle of September and we are miles from the coast. The Cambridgeshire County Moth Recorder tells me that they’re regular but not common in the county, there have been 3-4 recorded for the last three years or so.

The moth was named for A. J. Dewick who is from Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. It is found across continental Europe to Siberia and down to Lebanon and Israel, and even Japan.

The Burnished Brass neck cheek of it

UPDATE: I’ve been mothing for five years as of July 2023. Always love to see Burnished Brass when it appears. Here’s the latest, although there were two that morning.

One of the more eye-catching of the moths I’ve seen during more than a year of mothing goes by the name of Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis). This is also an owlet moth, one of the noctuids, the noctuidae. It rests with its wings folded into a tent shape as many of them do, but what makes it stand out is that, as its name would suggest, it looks metallic. It shimmers in the sunlight and as it begins to warm it set its wings aquiver to speed up the process, revving its engines, as it were, before it can fly away into the garden shrubbery to vanish from sight. But, not before a quick photoshoot, of course.

For materials scientists, such shimmering is very much of interest. The scales on the wings of the moths and butterflies, the Lepidoptera (which simply means scaly, or tiled, wings) are inspirational for those looking to mimic the reflective, iridescent, and photonic properties of natural materials. I wrote about Burnished Brass for the magazine section of the journal Materials Today not long after I spotted my first one in the scientific trap in July 2018.

The second ivy league

Yesterday, I had my birding lens (150-600mm zoom) on the camera when I snapped those invertebrates feeding on the ivy overgrowth in All Saints’ churchyard in Rampton. Today, I took a 90mm macro to get a different type of closeup of the butterflies, bees, flies, and hornets. No hornets in sight and no ivy bees either.

The ivy league

The enormous ivy (Hedera helix) overgrowth on an old tree behind All Saints Church, Rampton, was heaving with honeybees, bumblebees (various species), hoverflies (and other diptera), ivy bees, hornets, and red admiral butterflies during a sunny and warm lunchtime. I knew it would be, I’ve been keeping an eye on it for a week or two waiting for it to blossom. The acrid and yet pleasantly heady aroma hits you first as you walk into the churchyard. And, almost simultaneously you notice the buzzing. A lot of buzzing, the buzzing of thousands of pairs of tiny wings.

Ivy blossom is so important in the autumn for invertebrates once the usual flowers are beyond nectar making and their sugary food supply dries up. I have let the ivy on the fence at the rear of our garden grow quite wild again this year. After dark, I spotted lots of night feeders – several Large Yellow Underwing, some Vine’s Rustic, an Angle Shades, and various flies and other critters. The leaves had plenty of snails after the rains.

Mothematical update

As of 9th September 2019, I have tallied more than 10000 moth specimens of approximately 300 different species via the scientific trap. I started trapping this year on 20th February and there have been a few short breaks for holidays in between lighting-up sessions. And then there was the outage when I smashed the UV light…

These numbers represent a tiny fraction of the total number of moths that will have passed through our garden in that time and the species count is barely 12 percent of the total number of species in the British Isles.

The red barchart shows the peaks and troughs of total numbers counted after each trapping session. Going from blanks some mornings to a handful in the winter months and into spring and then peaking with several hundred of a few dozen different species at various times during July and then late August (when we had a very hot spell with Cambridge breaking temperature records).

The blue of the chart shows the species count for each session. This peaked on 10th July with 60 different species, and perhaps more micro moths that I am too inexpert to have tallied on the day. There were 276 specimens in and around the trap come the morning of that day. The biggest tally was 27th August with 421 moths of some 43 different species.

For a complete listing of all species with vernacular and scientific names and, of course, record shots of each, check out my Mothematics Gallery on Imaging Storm. I’ve logged 321 moths species (most of them during the period July 2018 to September 2019 and most of those using the garden trap. A dozen or so in the gallery were photographed elsewhere.

I wrote about why scientific moth trapping is an important endeavour earlier in the year and how the modern amateur approach involves releasing the moths alive once tallied/photographed. Someone claimed that there are hundreds of thousands of people mothing. There aren’t. But, given that a single pipistrelle bat eats around 300 flying insects every night it is easy to see that in a country village where there might be three or four people trapping regularly, the bats are taking far more moths out of circulation than moth-ers.

As you can see from this small selection of my photos, moths are anything but grey and beige. Many fly during the day, many are brightly coloured, some are just sex machines (they don’t have mouthparts and don’t eat), all of them from the humblest micro to the biggest we have in the UK, the Privet Hawk-moth are astonishing examples of biological diversity in the invertebrate world.

Buff Arches disguised through evolution as a chunk of flint or even fool’s gold

Cinnabar named for the colour of the mineral mercuric sulfideÂ

Four Elephant Hawk-moths and a Lime Hawk-moth, examples of the larger more colourful moths

Yellow Shell one of the many geometer moths, so-called because their larvae “measure the earth”

Setaceous Hebrew Character and Sallow Prominent

The Newcastle Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes live on the tidal river Tyne as far inland as my hometown, Newcastle itself. In fact, this is the farthest inland-dwelling colony of this small gull, known internationally as the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) anywhere in the world.

We were in Newcastle for a university graduation ceremony in July, so it seemed somewhat churlish not to get photos of the seabirds in between family photos of us and the graduate and the great city itself. As Stephen Rutt points out in his excellent book The Seafarers, nobody has figured out why these Kittiwakes have come so far inland.

The world-famous Tyne Bridge, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England

Kittiwakes nesting on the Tyne Bridge, Newcastle

The Baltic Flour Mills (left of frame on opposite bank of the river — The Baltic Flour Mills (left of frame, on opposite bank of the river) Gateshead

Kittiwakes nesting up high on the Baltic Flour Mills, Gateshead

Gateshead Millennium Bridge over the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead

Kittiwakes on the upper deck of the Baltic Flour Mills, Gateshead

Kittiwake outside the top-floor restaurant, the Baltic Flour Mills, Gateshead

A local safari around an English country village

Mention going on safari to most people and the assumption is that means a trip to a reserve somewhere far-flung, usually southern Africa, snapping photos of lion, giraffe, elephant, impala, and other big game. A wit might mention in passing the once-trendy concept of a safari supper, but let’s forget foodie affectations and take a safari around our local patch. What are you likely to see on a local safari?

Well, aside from the various birds we usually refer to in this column, the buzzards, kestrels, peregrines, hobbies, red kites, marsh harriers, and all those smaller specimens, there are quite a few large animals around. There’s no point offroading it and rocking up in a “Landie” like you might do on that African safari, the watering holes are not so scarce and there is almost as much chance of spotting your something in your back garden as on the farmland that surrounds the village and the local, small woodlands.

reeves muntjac — Reeves’ Muntjac on farmland behind Victory Way

Depending on the time of day, a walk through Les King Wood will often have you stumbling on and perhaps startling a Muntjac or barking deer. Specifically, the non-indigenous species originating in South Asia of Reeves’s muntjac were captive on the Woburn Abbey Estate in the roaring 20s and have since gone feral. Watch out for females with young, they will often make a noise and run out into a field as a decoy leaving their offspring out of sight in a hedgerow. They aren’t confined to the Wood though, you might spot one in and around the village at almost any time of year. Similarly, the various small herds of Roe Deer, which are more prominent on the farmland along Beach Road and in the fields beyond the Cottenham Lode.

An early morning run, as reader Andrew F will tell you, almost always has him stumbling over badgers on the “Birds Estate” in the village. Andrew tells me he sees them a lot and often with young. Foxes too are a common sight for walkers and runners especially in the photographers’ golden hours just as the sun comes up or when it is setting. That said, the inspiration for my Nature Watch report this issue was seeing a red fox in the wide open and newly mown hayfield alongside Rampton Spinney at midday.

fox 1 e1503862361313 — Fox pouncing on prey at dusk, farmland between Cottenham and Rampton

The fox spent a lot of time staring at the hay, perhaps hoping for insects or small rodents to make an irresistible appearance. I watched him for ten minutes or so before he skulked off into the trees, presumably still very hungry. Some of the older residents will tell you of frequent sightings of foxes in gardens along the High Street backing on to the Lode and elsewhere in the village. They also might point out that fewer and fewer are seen even out in the more “countryside” areas beyond. Although chicken-keepers still have to be vigilant and several have lost their birds to the local vulpines nevertheless.

There are plenty of rabbits around these here parts, although thankfully they are not endemic to the allotments. That site does, however, have a European hare that makes a periodic appearance. There are plenty of that particular species around, often to be seen haring about in the fields beyond the Les King Wood and even on the back field of the recreation ground.

Moles are a little bit more an elusive target of our local safari, given their general subterranean existence. I have, however, once seen one of these velvetine mammals pop its head up from its hole. Seen slightly more often are stoats. If spotted these animals will often dart into the undergrowth but then come back out for a second look, just to check how feeble a predator you really are. There are water voles too, living in burrows in the banks of the Lode. Unfortunately, the Grey Heron sees this small swimming mammal as just another snack and I have seen one these birds standing atop the bank gulping down a water vole whole.

Meanwhile, the maintenance work the Environment Agency carries out there always takes the water voles into account and their work is done very much with protecting this species’ habitat in mind. I spoke to one of their engineers recently who told me as much and also pointed out some otter scat on stones beneath the Rampton Bridge, so there’s another mammalian target on our local safari.

Of course, if you’re unable or unwilling to venture out on our local safari, you might still be able to see some of the small game that lives alongside us in the village. Hedgehogs, once a frequent sight in their two-dimensional form on roads across the country, are seen far less often. It is important to make routes for them to traverse our gardens and to ensure ponds have escape routes to prevent drowning. Leaving gardens with some unkempt areas will give our prickly friends a place to hide and hibernate. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant though, so don’t put milk out for them. They are omnivores, however, and will see a bit of soft cat food as a treat, although it is best to leave them to their natural diet of invertebrates.

Oh, and there are lots of American immigrants in the form of the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in our environs as well as the melanistic form, the black squirrel.

If you have seen any interesting natural happenings in and around the village do let me know, you can email me [email protected] Photos and additional nature reporting on my website https://sciencebase.com

Large Yellow Underwing

The Large Yellow Underwing is the kind of moth we used to call a logger when I was a bairn; Northern dialect word, short for loggerhead. On a warm summer’s evening there would almost always be a logger that would be attracted to a kitchen light and come in through an open window. I must confess I don’t ever remember seeing this species, Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus, 1758), specifically, and certainly don’t recall ever noticing any big moths that revealed brightly coloured hindwings when they were startled or fly. Like most people, until they learn, it’s assumed butterflies are colourful and moths are all brown, grey and dowdy. Simply not true.

Anyway, I’ve more than made up for any childhood failings in terms of moth observation over the last year or so. This summer alone I have caught and released more than 1000 moths of just this one species in my scientific trap, the peak was 148 specimens on the night of 26th August 2019. I’ve recorded their numbers and occasionally photographed them along with more than 300 other species of Lepidoptera (the word means scaly winged and also applies to the butterflies, which are really just a type of moth, anyway, there’s only any real distinction made in British English, because of the bipolar nature of our language with its Germanic and Latinate roots).

Anyway, I wanted to know the etymology of logger/loggerhead. Obviously, there’s the whaling term referring to a large post at the prow of a whaling vessel around which the harpoon rope would be slung to hold fast the catch. There are loggerhead turtles and the word is sometimes used to refer to a foolish person, someone thick as two short planks, and apparently, tadpoles.

Bill Griffith in his Dictionary of North East Dialect (Northumbria University Press, 2nd edn 2005). Refers to a logger as being a coloured butterfly. And mentions that it might also be used to refer to moths. He quotes its usage:

A've been doon the born coppin loggerheads

A literal translation from the Geordie would be: I have been to the burn looking at coloured butterflies/moths. But, figuratively it is a way of responding to the question “Wheor hev yee been?” (Where have you been?) with a curt “Mind your own business!”.