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Post by nomad on Dec 2, 2016 11:39:47 GMT
It is now Winter here in the UK. So here is a bit of colour to brighten up those days, with some of the moths that I photographed in 2016 and previously in natural conditions. Ugh, you might say, only those large silk moths and those colourful Arctiidae are of any interest to collectors and not a drab lot of British moths. For sure, there are many drab moths here, Quakers, Clays and Wainscots etc. Very apt names for those species but nonetheless just as interesting as their brighter coloured cousins. This thread mainly about the huge diversity and beauty of moths, so feel free to join in with specimens or images. Moth recording is in vogue in the UK, by the use of high powered M.V. moth traps. There are websites bulging with images of both rare and common moths, all artificially placed after their lively time in the traps. So how much better and fun to walk through the countryside and see what you can discover by your own endeavours, not only day-flying moths but nocturnal ones can be found by those that are prepared to look. Here is a moth that flies both by day and night and a firm favourite of mine. The local Parasemia plantaginis Linnaeus, 1758. Found Resting on Chalk Downland, Wiltshire, May 2016
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Post by nomad on Dec 2, 2016 12:15:10 GMT
By walking through Woods, moths can be found resting on tree trunks. I was a bit late and the sun was up but I did find this little beauty on the shady side of a Birch tree. It is one of the so called Microlepidoptera, a really artificial division, as some of these are larger than the so called Macrolepidoptera. This is the lovely Green Oak Tortrix, Tortrix viridana, Linnaeus, 1758. A rather common woodland moth but this was the first time that I have found it during the day. Wiltshire June 2016.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 2, 2016 15:29:46 GMT
"It is one of the so called Microlepidoptera, a really artificial division, as some of these are larger than the so called Macrolepidoptera."
You are right that it is an artificial division. Some families of Microlepidoptera are actually related to families in Macrolepidoptera and not directly related to other families of Microlepidoptera, so the two groups do not actually reflect evolutionary history.
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Dec 3, 2016 7:58:52 GMT
Some families of Microlepidoptera are actually related to families in Macrolepidoptera and not directly related to other families of Microlepidoptera, so the two groups do not actually reflect evolutionary history. I quite agree they are equally fascinating and no different to the larger types. When I see mounted museum specimens I am taken aback my the amount of skill it must have taken to mount those tiny insects. There were many Microlepidopterists in the UK. There are 1600 species here alone and recently an excellent guide has been published, the Field Guide to Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland by Sterling, Parsons and Lewington (2012-2015). This book like its companion to the larger moths are set to become enthusiasts bibles. The colour paintings by Lewington are breathtaking.
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Post by nomad on Dec 3, 2016 9:55:48 GMT
Here is the Thistle Ermine, Myelois circumvoluta Fourcroy, 1785 of the Pyralidae ยป Phycitinae family. This small nocturnal moth was found resting on Chalk grassland in Wiltshire. It is interesting that this moth, as is the case with the grassland Lycaenidae, choose to rest up side down. I expect it is mainly a protective measure to protect the head. It must also afford some degree of shelter from possible bad weather or heavy morning dew. The larvae at first feed on the seeds of thistles and then burrow into the stem. A fairly common species. Myelois circumvoluta. May 2016.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 11:18:10 GMT
I was asked by a young entomologist at a fair once who was just starting to collect how to correctly separate British micro's from macro's, I told him that when he found the answer to tell me, because it is not done on wing size for sure.
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Post by nomad on Dec 3, 2016 12:33:50 GMT
I set a few micros, when I was younger but they had to be fresh, now even the latter would be beyond me now. The first moth I ever caught with my home made butterfly net was Zygaena lonicerae latomarginata Tutt, 1899, an endemic subspecies. I found a colony hanging on in an old marsh by a stream, now a thick dense plantation, courtesy of the local council. Here is another and more local British endemic, Zygaena trifolii palustrella Verity, 1925 and it is a nice aberration too. My guide tells me its minoides (confluens) Selys-Longchamps, which has all the spots confluent. This day-flying moth was found resting in the early morning. Zygaena trifolii palustrella ab minoides. Cotswold Limestone grassland. Early June 2016.
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Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2017 11:30:16 GMT
On a hot summer's day, it is delightful to sit by clumps of the Majoram and watch the small and beautiful moths of the genus Pyrausta visiting the strong smelling herb. There were two species here, Pyrausta aurata and Pyrausta purpuralis. The latter's caterpillars feed on Mints such as Majoram, the other species Thyme. The adults flight is fast and they dart here and there from blossom to blossom. Pyrausta aurata (Scopoli, 1763) Pyrausta purpuralis (Linnaeus, 1758).
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Post by luehdorfia on Jan 9, 2017 11:45:18 GMT
The first moth I ever caught with my home made butterfly net was Zygaena lonicerae latomarginata Tutt, 1899, an endemic subspecies. I found a colony hanging on in an old marsh by a stream, now a thick dense plantation, courtesy of the local council. Are you sure it is Zygaena lonicerae? So far as I know lonicerae and trifolii often look almost the same but can easily seperated by looking at their habitat trifolii is normally found in wet marshes and lonicerae in warm and dry chalky slopes. It would be very interesting if lonicerae latomarginata occurs in marshes. Do you have a photo of your specimens collected back then?
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Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2017 12:02:31 GMT
I think so, but it was a long time ago. My guide written by a top expert says, for lonicerae, rougher grassland both on well drained calcareous grassland and damper clays. It might have been trifolii ssp decreta, but I remember the moths were larger, there was plenty of Greater Bird's foot trefoil, which lonicerae also feeds upon. I cannot reference my moth collection, because I do not have it anymore. The site where they occurred was once wet meadows, but by the time I found the colony, drier clay fields, set aside building land. One part is now houses the other a small plantation, put in place as a screen by the council.
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Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2017 12:28:26 GMT
I believe that is not an entirely correct statement that trifolii only occurs in marshes in the UK. There are two subspecies here, decreta and palustrella. Z. trifolii ssp palustrella is abundant in the dry chalk grassland of Salisbury Plain and elsewhere, where I have seen it. ssp decreta occurs in marshes, damp grassland and on heathland and feeds on the same foodplant as lonicerae.
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Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2017 13:00:05 GMT
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Post by luehdorfia on Jan 9, 2017 13:56:50 GMT
Very beautiful pictures! I see, so it is by far not that easy to differentiate the two, it just shows the importance of a good collection, comparing a series of the two would probably immediately show the differences more obviously, and it is easier to determine the species.
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Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2017 14:17:33 GMT
Yes its extremely hard in the UK. I am visiting good British collections in a West Country Museum tomorrow, I will take pictures of specimens of both trifolii and lonicerae side by side, although there was no separation of the subspecies then, but in the case of the former, you should be able to tell the subspecies apart by the habitat. I have written an article on Zygaena filipendulae ab. chrysanthemi Borkhausen, 1789. This is the very rare melanic aberration. I have posted a few pictures of this rare aberration elsewhere but I have better examples and have researched the entire British and the original German History.
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Post by nomad on Jan 11, 2017 16:25:25 GMT
The situation regarding Zygaena trifolii Esper, 1783 and Zygaena lonicerae Scheven, 1777 seems very complex especially the identification of the adults. Waring & Townsend (2003) wrote in their British Moth bible regarding Zygaena lonicerae, " The differences between this species and Five-Spot Burnet (trifolii) especially ssp decreta are comparative and slight.
They wrote of Zygaena trifolii decreta 'very difficult to distinguish from the much more widespread Narrow-bordered Five Spot (lonicerae), even using features of genitalia. However, the habitat time of year and geographical location may help. Probably the only safe way, in some cases, to ascertain which species are present, is to rear the larvae'.
A. Maitland Emmet (1991) in his The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera made the following interesting comments ' Zygaena trifolii decreta Verity, 1926. decretus, part of, to separate, probably because the subspecies was separated from ssp palustrella, named by Verity in the same paper. The spots on the forewing are not necessary more widely separated in this subspecies, though Verity much have supposed that they were. Zygaena trifolii palustrella Verity, 1926 - palustris, marshy, belonging to a marsh, probably to indicate affinity with the Continental ssp palustris Oberthur, 1896, but an ill-chosen name since the subspecies occurs on dry downland, ssp decreta on the other hand, is found in Marshes.
Top, Zygaena trifolii palustrella Verity. Bottom, Zygaena lonicerae latomarginata Tutt. Top, Zygaena lonicerae latomarginata Tutt. Bottom, Zygaena trifolii decreta Verity. Zygaena trifolii decreta Verity. Top, form minoides.
I could not resist photographing Zygaena viciae again . Zygaena trifolii decreta sometimes flew with the extinct British endemic subspecies Zygaena viciae ytenenis in the New Forest. A pair of the extinct Zygaena viciae ytenenis Briggs.
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