Saturday 11 April 2015

Lonesome Pine

Graham and I ran our moth traps in a garden to the east of the Ludlow road last night. The haul was not particularly large, but the homeowners were interested in what we found. This included two new species of macro moth for me, one of which was a new species for Graham (a rarity in itself).

The star of the show was this Pine Beauty Panolis flammea, of which it will not be a surprise that it is associated with Scot's Pine Pinus sylvestris. This species has quite a short flight season, being found in March and April. It is quite a common species, but only where the foodplant is found.

Pine Beauty Panolis flammea

The other new moth for me was this Powdered Quaker Orthosia gracilis. This species uses Sallow (Salix sp.) which is not particularly common in Batch Valley. Even so, it is a surprise that I have not recorded them before at home, perhaps that will change this spring.


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