Lunar Hornet Moth

The Lunar Hornet Moth (Sesia bembeciformis) is a day flyer and flies only in July.  Its unusual life cycle begins when the adults emerge from pupae in willow trees in early July.  The female attracts a mate by wafting a pheromone and after mating she lays her eggs on willow bark.  The larvae chew their way into the wood and stay there growing for two years before emerging and the cycle is then complete.

The Lunar Hornet Moth looks, sounds and flies like a hornet or giant wasp.  It is one of a group of clearwing moths that use Batesian mimicry to deter predators, that is they disguise themselves as something more dangerous and unpalatable to a potential predator.

Since 2020 a synthetic pheromone has been commercially available and reports of adult moths have increased dramatically.  This is the third year in a row I have had a go with a lure and all these photos are of males attracted to a pheromone lure in the past week.  (The female moth looks very similar but is larger.)  Once the moths have been in the trap for a few minutes they calm down and are happy to sit on a willow trunk for a few minutes while they gather their thoughts before flying off.

The photos on or in the trap aren't much good so I had a go at flight shots which are tricky but a few came out OK.  This one was taken in natural light and the shutter speed wasn't fast enough to freeze the wing movement.  

These were taken with flash.

For comparison here are a couple of European Hornets (Vespa crabro), also from Gosforth Nature Reserve but a few years ago.  They are brown rather than black but otherwise the moth's mimicry is pretty impressive.

May moths

I don't think I am cut out to be a moth trapper.  Not diligent or organised enough.  I set the trap on the last day of May, so a month ago, and it has taken me until now to sort out (some of) the results.  It was all a bit overwhelming with over 100 moths of dozens of species.  All I could do was to photograph them, or at least the ones that didn't fly off, and I did recognise some as I went through them.  Since then there has been so much else going on that I have only just got round to looking through the photos.  As ever, I found the medium-sized greyish-brown ones quite tricky but this time I got a lot of help from the Obsidentify app which appears to be very accurate and is certainly very confident.

There were several real beauties in the box and some I hadn't seen before so here are a few of the best.

First a Poplar Kitten, new to me.

Also Swallow Prominent,

Pebble Prominent,

Iron Prominent,

Gold Spot,

White Ermine,

Green Silver-lines,

Elephant Hawk-moth, there were two of these,

Poplar Hawk-moth, four of these,

Blood-vein, another two,

and Peppered Moth.

There were also four Orange Ladybirds, the ladybird most commonly attracted to light,

and a couple of ichneumons, probably Ophion sp.

After all that I shall set the trap again tonight and try to be a bit more organised.  Results to follow, I hope.

Herald

Not quite a herald angel but a beautiful moth I found flying around in the kitchen yesterday.  I think it had been hibernating in the garage under a workbench I brought into the kitchen and the warmth woke it up.  I took a photo before putting it back in the garage.  Merry Christmas.

A few creepy-crawlies

This blog has been overrun by weasels and shrews in recent weeks so invertebrates have barely had a look in.  OtterCam, WaterShrewCam and WeaselCam are quiet at the moment so I have a chance to post a few odds and ends I have come across recently, while looking for something else (usually dragonflies or ladybirds).

The first is a mite, Anystis baccarum, also known as the whirligig mite.  It is a predator of aphids and is available as a biological control for aphid infestations in apple orchards.  This one was munching on an aphid on a gravestone.  The mite is 1.5mm across.

Next a tiny beetle that should be in the list of things that are not ladybirds.  It is Sphaeroderma rubidum, a leaf beetle about 2.5mm long.  It feeds on the leaves of thistles and knapweed.  It overwinters as a larva so this adult won't survive for long.

Another beetle, a Rosemary Beetle, this one about 8mm long.  Although its scientific name is Chrysolina americana it comes for the Mediterranean.  It first arrived in the UK in 1994 and is now widespread.  The larvae feed on rosemary, lavender and thyme.

And a Grey Dagger Moth caterpillar (the head end is to the right).  It overwinters as a pupa so this one won't be a moth until next year.

I have seen a Grey Dagger in my trap before.  While the adult moth is indistinguishable from the Dark Dagger, the caterpillars are similar but not identical.

I expect we'll be back to trail cameras next time.

First moths of the year

This was the first time I have set up the moth trap this year.  Previously it has been in the corner of the walled flower garden, just over the wall from the golf course.  This time it was 50m away, at the edge of the meadow and close to the copse, so a slightly different environment.

There weren't many moths but they included some real beauties.  New to me was this Pebble Prominent.

This is one I have seen before, a Common Swift.

Another star was a White Ermine.

It has these amazing colours underneath.  I wonder why as they are hidden and it lives mostly in the dark.

Another new one was a Buff Ermine.  I didn't get to see what colour this one is underneath.

And one of my favourites, a Poplar Hawk-moth.

When I tried to move it for a better photo it got a firm hold of my finger and wouldn't let go.  I could feel the tiny claws on its feet.

Emperor moths

The Emperor Moth pheromone lure is amazingly potent.  I have tried it out twice this year and each time it produced six male moths within a few minutes.  The first time was at Hepple, west of Rothbury in Northumberland, on the heather moorland near the border with Harwood Forest. The lure is hidden under the bark of a bit of dead wood.  To start with the moths were flapping around like crazy, making it almost impossible to get a photo.  Then one settled on the wood very briefly,

and another landed in the heather nearby and stayed still for several minutes.

A few days later I took the lure to Edmonbyers Common in County Durham.  This was old scruffy heather but the moths arrived within a couple of minutes.  Here you can see three with the pheromone-impregnated lure tucked under the bark.

Here are two fighting to get to the imaginary female.

They are very excited when they arrive but sometimes seem to get tired and just stop for a rest, which makes the photography much easier.  This one stopped on the wood for several minutes, probably exhausted.

It has amazing feathery antennae to pick up the faintest scent of a female.

Eventually I picked it up to be out of the way of the others.  I had taken great care not to get any pheromone on my hands but it was a cold day and the moth seemed happy to be on my warm hand.

I found another rather faded and tattered moth in the grass a metre or so away.

And another worn and tatty individual.

I have yet to see a female Emperor Moth.  She is larger and has the same markings but the background is pale blue-grey, even more beautiful than the pink-brown of the male.