Tidemills and a Jersey Tiger

Jersey Tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria

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I visited the Tide Mills at Newhaven on 20th where I met David Cook who kindly showed me a Long-tailed Blue egg and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth. I saw a kingfisher fly along the creek when I arrived. I then went to the Castle Hill Nature Reserve by the fort and saw my first Jersey Tiger moth nectaring on buddleia with Painted Ladies. Also a mating pair of Common Blues. Other butterflies seen: Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown. At Beeding Cement works I saw a Conch (Cochylimorpha species), probably C. straminea (awaiting microspopic exam to determine).

Conch, Cochylimorpha species

Conch, Cochylimorpha species, 9mm long

Long-tailed Blue egg on Everlasting pea bud

Long-tailed Blue egg, Lampides boeticus

Pea-leaf Weevil, Sitona lineatus

tiny unidentified spider

Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae

Castle Hill Nature Reserve:

Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

Common Blues mating, Polyommatus icarus

Dock Bug nymph, Coreus marginatus

Gorse Shieldbug, Piezodorus lituratus

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly, Volucella zonaria

Jersey Tiger underside, Euplagia quadripunctaria

Jersey Tiger

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

Painted Lady

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria

Painted Ladies and a Small Birch Bell

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

We've had plenty of moths attracted to our balcony light when the evenings have been warm and still, including the first Lime-speck Pugs of the year. A walk through Rewell Woods on 15th gave me the first Small Birch Bell I have seen (Epinotia ramella f. costana). It was difficult to identify at first as it differs considerably from the usual form, but the excellent illustrations by Richard Lewington in the Field Guide to Micromoths of GB & Ireland (Sterling & Parsons) pinpointed it. The buddleia attracted Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and Brimstones. There were plenty of Common Darters by and on the path. During a walk round Woods Mill on 16th I spotted a 5th instar Comma larva on a nettle.

Lime-speck Pug, Eupithecia centaureata

Dark Spectacle, Abrostola triplasia

Double-striped Tabby, Orthopygia glaucinalis

Fern, Horisme tersata

Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni

Broad-Leaved Willowherb, Epilobium montanum

Brown Argus, Aricia agestis

Common Centaury, Centaurium erythraea

Common Darter, female Sympetrum striolatum

Common Nettle-tap, Anthophila fabriciana

Dor beetle, Geotrupes stercorarius

Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus

unidentified Ichneumon wasp

unidentified Ichneumon wasp

Lygaeid Bug, Orsillus depressus

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

Painted Lady

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Small Birch Bell, Epinotia ramella f. costana

Woods Mill

Comma 5th instar larva, Polygonia c-album

Wax Moth, Vine's Rustic and other moths

Angle Shades, Phlogophora meticulosa

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Sunday evening our balcony light attracted many moths, including a new one, a Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella), so called because the larva feed on honey bee larvae, pupae, and pollen and honey. 

Other moths: Angle Shades, Common Plume, Marbled Beauty, Poplar Grey, Vine's Rustic, Rusty Dot Pearl and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Angle Shades, Phlogophora meticulosa

Angle Shades

Common Plume, Emmelina monodactyla

Marbled Beauty, Bryophila domestica

Marbled Beauty

Poplar Grey, Subacronicta megacephala 

Vine's Rustic, Hoplodrina ambigua

Rusty Dot Pearl, Udea ferrugalis

Setaceous Hebrew Character, Xestia c-nigrum

Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella

Wax Moth