Mill Hill and Kithurst moth fest

Red-barred Gold, Micropterix tunbergella

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Sunday 29 May my Mill Hill transect produced Adonis Blue 14 (females 3, males 11), Brimstone, Common Blue 3, Dingy Skipper 2, Small Heath 7, Speckled Wood, moths: Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata) 3, Grass Rivulet (Perizoma albulata) 2, Silver Y (Autographa gamma) and Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus).

  On a dull Monday I visited Kithurst Meadow I found five new moths for my galleries: Brassy Twist (Eulia ministrana), Dark-barred Twist (Syndemis musculana), Broad-blotch Drill (Dichrorampha alpinana), a tiny black and white moth, possibly Ectoedemia species and Red Hazel Midget (Phyllonorycter nicellii). In addition there were Yellow-spot Twist (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana), Cinerous Pearl (Anania fuscalis), Grass Rivulet (Perizoma albulata), Red-barred Gold (Micropterix tunbergella) and Small Purple and Gold (Pyrausta aurata). I saw one Small Blue roosting. I also found a Cream-spot Ladybird and a Shining Flower beetle.
When I arrived a family was enjoying a picnic in the chalk pits on the right before the gate. When I checked this area out later I saw a soil pit they had dug out but not filled in and two items of litter which I removed. Also another case of fly-tipping in the lay-by nearest the main road. Lovely people!

Mill Hill, 29 May:

Adonis Blue ♀, Polyommatus bellargus

Adonis Blue, Polyommatus bellargus

Celery fly, Euleia heraclei

Common Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax

Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna

False Oil Beetle, Oedemera nobilis

Grass Rivulet, Perizoma albulata

Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris

Harlequin Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis

Hook-streak Grass-veneer, Crambus lathoniellus

Silver Y, Autographa gamma

Silver Y

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria

Yellow Shell, Camptogramma bilineata
usual view, hiding under leaf

Yellow Shell

Kithurst Meadow, 30 May

Brassy Twist, Eulia ministrana

Brassy Twist

Broad-blotch Drill, Dichrorampha alpinana

Shining Flower beetle, Olibrus corticalis

Cranefly, Epiphragma ocellare

Cranefly, Limonia phragmitidis

Phoretic Mite, Calyptostoma species on Cranefly, Limonia phragmitidis

Speckled Bush Cricket nymph, Leptophyes punctatissima

Psyllid bug, Floria variegata

Green Lacewing, Chrysopa perla

Wood Avens, Geum urbanum

Cream-spot Ladybird, Calvia 14-guttata

Cinerous Pearl, Anania fuscalis

Cinerous Pearl
difficult to approach, these two photos show the usual views.

Dark-barred Twist, Syndemis musculana

Grass Rivulet, Perizoma albulata

Hemp Agrimony, Eupatorium cannabinum
This, like nettle, is an important micro-habitat for insects and spiders

Ectoedemia species?

unidentified moth-fly

Common Spotted-orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Red Hazel Midget, Phyllonorycter nicellii

Red Hazel Midget

Small Blue, Cupido minimus

Small Purple and Gold, Pyrausta aurata

White-barred Gold, Micropterix aruncella

Yellow-spot Twist, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana