Post by nomad on Aug 2, 2016 10:48:27 GMT
Day-flying moths of the Valais.
Here is a selection of the day-flying moths that I found in the Alps of South Switzerland in the Canton of the Valais in the very beautiful region of Simplon Valley.
I thought I should post this topic here as I did not collect anything but I am just as passionate about finding and, photographing interesting moths as I am about butterflies and other insect orders. I used to have a large collection of self caught British macro moths. In general these often brightly coloured day-flying moths are very hard to photograph, being much more sensitive to any movement or vibrations than many butterfly species. It is a misnomer that moths are drab insects, while certain species may be called that, many are more colourful or conspicuous than some species of butterflies.
Black-veined Moth, Siona lineata (Scopoli, 1763).
I have written about this day-flying moth of the Geometridae before. There was a little known extinct population in Britain of Siona lineata that was found by those early Aurelians, the Quekett brothers in the early 19th century in the county of Somerset in Western England. There are surviving specimens from that locality that was caught by J.C. Dale at Oxford and these were shown in that article. See
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/784/extinct-lepidoptera-rarities-aller-somerset
Today in the UK, this striking moth is a protected species and it is confined to a couple of chalk grassland sites in Kent in South-eastern England. I have never seen it in its British localities, so it was exciting to see this species for the first time in the wild in Switzerland. I found several at one location above the Gondo Gorge and here it was flying or resting on steep flowery calcareous grassland among the pinewoods and juniper scrub. It has a weak flight and it does not fly very far before alighting, often hanging in the taller grass. Siona lineata is found throughout Europe but it is a local species and the examples that I saw in Switzerland seemed larger than the old museum British specimens. The foodplants in the wild are unrecorded but the larvae are thought to feed on a number of low growing herbs.
Siona lineata above the Gondo Gorge at 1350 meters.
Biotope of Siona lineata above the Gondo Gorge.
The beautiful Fire Lily (Lilium bulbiferum) grew here.
Here is a selection of the day-flying moths that I found in the Alps of South Switzerland in the Canton of the Valais in the very beautiful region of Simplon Valley.
I thought I should post this topic here as I did not collect anything but I am just as passionate about finding and, photographing interesting moths as I am about butterflies and other insect orders. I used to have a large collection of self caught British macro moths. In general these often brightly coloured day-flying moths are very hard to photograph, being much more sensitive to any movement or vibrations than many butterfly species. It is a misnomer that moths are drab insects, while certain species may be called that, many are more colourful or conspicuous than some species of butterflies.
Black-veined Moth, Siona lineata (Scopoli, 1763).
I have written about this day-flying moth of the Geometridae before. There was a little known extinct population in Britain of Siona lineata that was found by those early Aurelians, the Quekett brothers in the early 19th century in the county of Somerset in Western England. There are surviving specimens from that locality that was caught by J.C. Dale at Oxford and these were shown in that article. See
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/784/extinct-lepidoptera-rarities-aller-somerset
Today in the UK, this striking moth is a protected species and it is confined to a couple of chalk grassland sites in Kent in South-eastern England. I have never seen it in its British localities, so it was exciting to see this species for the first time in the wild in Switzerland. I found several at one location above the Gondo Gorge and here it was flying or resting on steep flowery calcareous grassland among the pinewoods and juniper scrub. It has a weak flight and it does not fly very far before alighting, often hanging in the taller grass. Siona lineata is found throughout Europe but it is a local species and the examples that I saw in Switzerland seemed larger than the old museum British specimens. The foodplants in the wild are unrecorded but the larvae are thought to feed on a number of low growing herbs.
Siona lineata above the Gondo Gorge at 1350 meters.
Biotope of Siona lineata above the Gondo Gorge.
The beautiful Fire Lily (Lilium bulbiferum) grew here.
