Mothwatch: Early June Mothing

It was a busy June so far for moth recording - a good few nights of trapping at home in the garden regardless of rain, and then the usual Friday morning stints at Oxford Island NNR opening the 125w MV and 20w actinic woodland traps there.  It rained for the most part, meaning damp recording sessions early in the morning and smudged notebooks, but worth it all the same.

Oxford Island 5th June - Evening Walk

A short walk around the local NNR of Oxford Island on the Lough Neagh southern shore, produced some nice early evening moths.  Most noteable being the Gold Swift seen emerginf from grassland borders to feed and find a mate.

Male Gold Swift moth at rest on Willowherb

Male & Female mating, showing the dimorphism between sexes

Oxford Island Trapping Sessions

The few trapping sessions in June have produced some nice local species so far to both light sources.  The MV understandably pulls more numbers, but the Actinic gets to places the power-hungry MV just can't go.

Drinker moths appeared in the MV in good numbers, a recent emergence it seems.

This male Drinker illustrates the feathered antenna of the males, used to detect female pheromones.  They can be quite large with a wingspan of 45-65mm.

The larvae feed on a variety of grasses and reeds, and are a considerable size compared to most lepidopteran larvae.

This example of larvae was photographed in a reed bed of a salt-marsh, a typical habitat of the species:

The male finally settled down for some identification images, the wing details being particularly attractive in the males.

Both sexes have the white spots on the wings, and females tend to be a little bit more yellow in colour, than the deep orange of the male shown here.

Trapping at Home - 12th June

A session at home drew more June-like  species and numbers, but nowhere near normal yet.  One such moth was the Pebble Prominent, a superbly marked moth that although common, is always great to see.  

The way the moth blends into its background when on trees and twigs is truly amazing:

Trapping sessions from Brackagh Moss bog will feature in a follow-up post to this one, as will other groups of invertebrates recorded over the early days of June.