CARL MARSHALL: Deaths head hawkmoth larvae at Stratford Butterfly Farm.

The Deaths head hawkmoth Acherontia atropos is the largest moth to be regularly found in Britain. Although not truly a native, it is a common migrant from southern Europe. When conditions lead to a large migration, the striking yellow caterpillars can sometimes be encountered in late summer feeding in potato fields.

The adult moths are unusual in several ways: they have the ability to emit a loud squeak when irritated by expelling air from the pharynx. They also have the habit of raiding beehives for honey - a behaviour enabled by their ability to produce a scent mimicking that of the queen bee. Perhaps most strikingly unusual is the skull-like markings on the thorax. This feature has earned this species a negative reputation, and in popular culture it has often been used in connection with evil and the supernatural, most notably in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.  

Although in Britain the larvae are most commonly found on potato Solanum tuberosum, in captivity they will readily accept Privet Ligustrum vulgare. The bright yellow larvae are striking in colouration and also size, with individuals growing as large as 12cm.

Larval food plants:

*Solanaceae

*Verbenceae

*Oleaceae

CARL MARSHALL: More magnificent moths

These incredible moths emerged last week.

These have recently emerged. They are Hercules moths Coscinocera hercules (sometimes known as Attacus omphale). C.hercules is a very large moth of the Saturniidae family, endemic to Papua New Guinea and northern Australia and can have an enormous wingspan of up to 27cm (approx 10.63 in). It is the largest moth found in Australia and one of the largest in the world.

This example is a male. C. hercules are sexually dimorphic, with only the males having the extended tail on each hindwing, and extended tips on the forewings.

Photographs by Philippe Lurin. 

Indian summer deposits moth multitude

Hundreds of rare moths have flocked to the UK in what is being described as the best migration for years as a result of the recent record-breaking spell of warm weather. The last few days have seen the largest influx of the rare Flame Brocade moth for 130 years; experts believe it has now formed a colony at a site in Sussex. Other immigrants drawn in by the Indian summer include a spectacular species made famous by horror film The Silence of the Lambs — the Death's-head Hawk-moth — the beautiful Crimson Speckled, and the delicate Vestal moth.

Read on

MAX SENT THIS FANTASTIC PROJECT WITH WHICH WE SHALL CERTAINLY BE GETTING INVOLVED

Our conker trees are under attack by 'alien' invaders! Have you noticed whitish patches on the leaves of horse chestnut trees? By the middle of summer, the whitish patches die and turn brown. Sometimes whole trees turn brown, and it looks like autumn has come early. The damage is caused by a tiny 'alien' species of leaf-mining moth, which is invading the UK. For biologists an 'alien' is a species not naturally found in an area or habitat. The moth’s caterpillars eat the leaves from the inside. Infected trees are weakened and produce smaller conkers.

Read on...

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: WHAT WAS THIS MOTH DOING IN BRAZIL?

A friend gave me a box with this moth in it for Christmas, which she bought at her uncle`s antique-type shop in Macclesfield.

On top of the box is written in neat, Victorian-era-type black handwriting the words: OTHERIS SCHBELLUM BRASIL QUENSTA. CATERINA NOV in capitals, thus. When I typed in `OTHERIS SCHBELLUM BRASIL` into Google, I came up with nothing. When I typed in OTHERIS SCHBELLUM I came up with several hits, including one that clearly showed my specimen was long faded. The moth should have a lower wing consisting of a bright orange and black zig-zag stripe, and an upper wing of a dull brown. However, it originates from only one country: Ecuador.

However, there is a faint stripe on my moth that is slightly different in form from the BOLD Systems Taxonomy Browser website (1) image of this moth. This website shows a fairly clear diagonal line whereas my specimen`s line is not so straight. If anyone can enlighten us as to whether or not there is anything significant about these discrepancies please can they let me know?

Thanks

Richard

1. http://www.boldsystems.org/views/taxbrowser.php?taxid=269531

I WISH THEY ALL COULD BE CALIFORNIA MOTHS

Joseph Nguyen writes:

Hello,

Please help with identifying a bug in my house. I recently found them flying
or on the ceiling in the house -- usually in the early morning.

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California

MORE ON THE SAGA OF THE VAPOURER MOTH EGGS

A couple of weeks back we published a story about a batch of eggs laid by a vapourer moth (that's it to the right of the right hand image - the females only have tiny vestigial wings) Orgyia antiqua. What we all wanted to know was whether the red mites were attacking the eggs.




The general consensus of opinion was that it probably was.



A couple of days ago Graeme Stroud, the photographer wrote to me with the larger image..



Jonathan,

If it’s of any interest – I took this picture of the same batch of eggs yesterday. They’ve greyed down a bit over the couple of weeks, but they look to me to be completely undamaged.

Regards,
Graeme

It looks as if the red mites were innocent after all. But what were they doing if they weren't planning to eat the eggs?

ANOTHER OUT OF PLACE INSECT?

The White-marked Tussock Moth is a common native of North America, living throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada. The caterpillars feed on a range of host plants including birch, cherry, apple, oak, and even some coniferous trees like fir and spruce.

White-marked Tussock Moths produce two generations each year. The first generation of caterpillars emerge from their eggs in spring, and feed on foliage for 4 to 6 weeks before pupating. In two weeks the adult moth emerges from the cocoon, ready to mate and lay eggs. The cycle is repeated, with the eggs from the second generation over-wintering.

Kelly Williams from Northumberland believes that she has discovered vagrant specimens of this exclusively New World species in her garden.


Hi Max/Jon

I've attached the photos of the first caterpillar I found (pics 1,2 & 3); on closer inspection/comparison, it may well be the same caterpillar. The tussocks look longer on the one found yesterday (pics 4 & 5) and darker in colour but this could be because it is maturing. I'm not sure, although it has inspired me to invest in a couple of butterfly and moth books so I can investigate a little more.

The pictures of the new one aren't fantastic but I'll get some more this afternoon. It was again found on the patio salix I have growing in a pot in my back yard.

I live in Lynemouth village in Northumberland, and only moved into the property last October so this is my first spring/summer here. The previous owner had nothing in the way of plant life in the yard that I can ever recall, as it was my friend's, father's property for over 35 years. Thanks for your time.



Kelly Williams.

JONATHAN DOWNES: Tell me Y

The Silver Y moth (Autographa gamma, previously known as Plusia gamma) is one of the most well known migratory moths on the British list. The larvae are extremely polyphagous and according to Nancy Fraser (2000), have been recorded feeding on at least 224 plant species, and furthermore she claims that they have also been recorded damaging many crops, especially those of the cabbage family.

They have a complicated life cycle. The adults make seasonal northward migrations into areas where – due to climatic conditions – they are unable to establish a full-term presence. As Fraser writes: “For example, individuals migrate into Britain each spring, and after, one, two or three generations, descendants of the spring migrants return to over-wintering sites in North Africa and the Middle East”.

The species is widespread across Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa and the northerly migrations can reach as far as Iceland, Finland and Greenland – the latter, as far as I can tell, being its only known incursions into the New World. In the United Kingdom they are present in significant numbers from the middle of May until they are killed off by frosts in the late autumn. Many individuals, however, fly south again and winter around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

In 2007 the Vermont Co-operative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) reported that although they had not actually found any specimens “the likelihood and consequences and establishment by A. gamma have been evaluated in a pathway-initiated risk assessment conducted by the Department of Entomology from the University of Minnesota, published 2003.

Autographa gamma was considered highly likely at becoming established across the US if introduced: the consequences of its establishment for US agricultural and natural eco-systems were also rated high (ie., severe).”

As far as I am able to ascertain, there have been no records, however, of this species in mainland North America. That is, until – possibly – now.

As editor of an increasingly popular online daily magazine; which covers amongst other things natural history, cryptozoology and out-of-place animals; I often receive photographs for me or our readers to identify. These pictures were sent on 8th August 2010 by my friend and colleague D.R. Shoop in Minnesota. They had been taken the previous Monday (the 6th). My first thought was that they were indeed a Silver Y moth. I have been familiar with this species since I first became interested in British moths at the age of 11 – 40 years ago. My second thought was that they couldn’t be because Silver Y moths are not found in North America. Upon investigation I found that there are forty-three species in the genus Autographa, of which at least fifteen are recorded in North America, and some of these; particularly Autographa californica, Autographa bimaculata, Autographa buraetica, Autographa pseudogamma, Autographa v-alba, and Autographa corusca; are not only found in North America but bear a remarkable resemblance to the Eurasian Silver Y.

I would originally have placed a fair amount of money upon the moths pictured here being the Silver Y species with which I have been familiar for four decades. However, now I am not so sure. I would be very interested in reading the comments of any expert in the North American noctuidae.

REFERENCE

Cirsium Palustre (Marsh Thistle) literature search and habitat potential risk analysis (Nancy Fraser, Canadian Ministry of Forests, Vancouver, 2000)

LET THE TIGERS BREAK FREE

I would like to draw readers' attention to the results of the big butterfly count. ...

Interesting results include an impressive number of sightings of the Small Tortoiseshell. This beautiful butterfly has been ravaged in recent years, with numbers declining by 82% in southeast England, perhaps due to the arrival of a parasitic fly called Sturmia bella. The big butterfly count results indicate strong signs of recovery. The Small Tortoiseshell was the ninth commonest butterfly seen across the UK and did even better in garden habitats.

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2274

However, welcome as that news is, the most interesting news can be found here. It appears that the Jersey Tiger, for years one of Britain's rarest and most localised moths, being restricted to parts of the southwest (including, interestingly, the Housing Estate where the CFZ lived for 20 years until 2005, and where Olivia and Ivan live now, has spread massively, being found in London of all places.

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:THE MANCHESTER MOTH

Folks, today I want to make a brief mention of what has become known as the Manchester Moth and unfortunately it will have to be very brief because I left my papers on the moth with Lizzy a week or so ago for her to have a look at. I do remember that about 50-60 specimens of this moth were found on Kersal Moor near Manchester but all but about 3 were destroyed by the irate landlady of the habitation of the discoverer because he had spent all his money on drink and could not afford to pay his rent, so she threw his moth collection on the fire!! I do love these 'human interest' stories.

The mystery is how did the moth get there in the first place? It has never been seen since, the other two specimens are in the Natural History Museum in London and in a museum in Melbourne. Dr Dmitri Loganov an entomologist at the Manchester Museum (where the accompanying photographs were taken by myself) believes that caterpillars from either India or the U.S. may have somehow got to a cotton mill near the moor and later developed into moths. So the next stage is to track down entomologists in those countries to see if they have any further information.

Please will you be very kind and NOT reproduce these photos for your own purposes as I am hoping they will get their first showing when The Mystery Animals of Greater Manchester is published in a few months. I may even try and take better ones.

Rich

D E V O S O C I A L F O O L S

If you obey society`s rules
You will be society`s fools
You`ll obey and then disobey
You`ll disobey and then obey
You thought your mum and dad were fools
You never wanted to listen in school
Now your mind wont go
Where you want to take it
You got a ride but you`re not going to make it

MORE OFFICE WINDOW WILDLIFE

I am enjoying my on-going mini project, of trying to photograph the animals I can see through my office window. Photographing moths is particularly challenging. The upper moth is one of the carpet moths (a Devon carpet I think) but I have not been able to identify the lower one. Anyone out there know?

MORE PICS FROM NAOMI

...or in this case her friend Becky. It is an American moon moth btw.

EVERY YEAR THIS HAPPENS

It is a hummingbird hawkmoth for goodness sake. We even get them in the CFZ garden.

NATIONAL MOTH NIGHT

http://www.nationalmothnight.info/

Yesterday morning I was sat in my study happily doing the blog when the post arrived. During these difficult times the advent of the postman is not always a pleasant occasion but yesterday the only post was a letter from `Doc`, a catalogue for Corinna and the latest edition of the Amateur Entomological Society bulletin for me.

I always enjoy the AES Bulletin and put it aside for later perusal when the leaflet reproduced above fell out. Golly, said I. A National Moth Night; I want a bit of that, and I pledged that somehow the CFZ would get involved....

LIZ CLANCY: The Monkeytown Moth

The Heywood Advertiser ran a story on 8th October this year about a 'rare visitor' to one of the town's streets. One of the residents of Willow Street apparently found a peculiar-looking moth on her front door. The Lancashire Moth group were contacted and the moth was identified as a death's head hawkmoth, which could have come from as far away as the African continent. According to Graham Jones of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust one of this species visits the region every year, he thinks to investigate potential sites for a new colony.

The full online version of the article can be seen here

WE KNOW THE TRUTH...

He may claim to be helping the CFZ to get specimens of the garden tiger moth (see below) for a breeding project but we know the truth, boys and girls. Agent Matthews is now working to destabilise the Arctiidae

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The garden tiger moth is found throughout Europe as far north as Lapland, in Asia, and in North America. In the mountains this species is found up to an elevation of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). The garden tiger moth loves damp places, which is why it is particularly common in river valleys as well as gardens and parks. The moth is nocturnal and can usually only be seen flying around a source of light. The distinctively coloured, long-haired caterpillar, on the other hand, is seen more frequently. It can grow up to 6 cm (2½ inches) long and plays dead when in danger. These moths are most common in June to August, in gardens, park, meadows, grasslands, and scrubby areas.

On August 28, 2007, the new Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) [launched in 1997] identified 1,149 species and 65 habitats in the UK that need conservation and greater protection. The updated list include hedgehog, house sparrows, grass snake and the garden tiger moth; otters, bottlenose dolphins and red squirrels remained in need of habitat protection.[1]
Its numbers in the UK have declined by 89% over the past 30 years.[2]

WHITE ERMINE

When I was a boy and lived in the same village where I find myself living now, I was always obsessed with lepidoptera and one of the most fertile spots for hunting said creatures was not the hedgerows and fields; not the lanes and woodlands but the wall of the village shop.

The village shop (which in those days was owned by a couple called Paddon), had (and indeed still has) whitewashed walls and there are two large street lamps, which cast great pools of light upon the walls.

These used to provide a perfect moth trap and each morning, as I queued up outside the shop for the school bus, I would check the walls for moths. The most common was this: the white ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda). This chunky medium-sized moth is allegedly quite common over most of Britain, and produces hairy caterpillars that eat a variety of weeds and garden plants, and I have always thought of it as being one of the species that is synonymous with Woolsery.

The only trouble is that I haven't seen one here for years. Although I check the walls, the village shop no longer acts as an attractor for moths and although other species (a considerably smaller viaiety, however) still glide silently across the North Devon night, there ain't no white ermines and I have grieved the fact for the past four years.

Then, once again, Greg came to the rescue. Greg is my ten year old Godson who, unlike so many boys of his age, still catches butterflies and moths (although his collection involves a digital camera rather than a setting board). Greg was the first to photograph one of the painted ladies a few weeks back and now he is the first to catch, photograph and release white ermines. Thank you Greg, my dear. You have restored my faith in nature, both human and otherwise....

The role of the Amateur Naturalist in Cryptozoology

I very nearly did something very silly. About three minutes ago, (and you must remember that I am writing this last night from where you are today), I nearly started another blog as part of the CFZ bloggo family. This blog was to be entitled `The Amateur Naturalist`, and would have been partly a tie-in with the periodical of the same name, and partly a place for the more Natural History related posts on the bloggo.

But then I came to my senses. A couple of Weird Weekends ago Darren Naish made the point that the concept of cryptozoology as a separate discipline is a relatively new one. A hundred years ago, most zoologists were cryptozoologists. It is only with the rise of the blinkered specialist that it has needed to be codified into a separate discipline.

This morning I received the latest editions of the Amateur Entomological Society Bulletin, the Entomologist's Record, and Invertebrate Conservation News. It was the first time that I have read any of these publications in years, and two things struck me. The first was how good they were, and the second was how much cryptozoology (by my definition of the word) was in there.

Just look. In the January/February issue of the Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation there are the following articles:

1 Reappearance of Celypha rosaceana (Schläger) (Lep.: Tortricidae) as a Scottish species after over 100 years. Keith P. Bland

2 Moths new to the Isle of Wight in 2008. Sam Knill-Jones

3 Westward spread of the Toadflax Brocade Calophasia lunula (Hufn.) (Lep.: Noctuidae). A. M. George

4 Larvae of the Argent & Sable Rheumaptera hastata (L.) (Lep.: Geometridae) discovered in Northern Ireland apparently for the first time, with notes on pupation. Paul Waring, David Allen and Clive Mellon

5 An unusual aberration of Mellicta sp. probably parthenoides (Keferstein) (Lep.: Nymphalidae) in SW France. Catherine Wellings and Graham Wenman

6 Emmelina argoteles (Meyrick) (Lep.: Pterophoridae) recorded in Greece – new country, new habitat and new season. Colin W. Plant and Stoyan Beshkov 44-45

New species, new records, aberrant morphs - just the stuff of what cryptozoology, at least the cryptozoology that we practise is made.

The other two magazines are equally full of stuff of interest, and I spent a happy afternoon curled up with the cat (who is called `Spider` which is a suitably entomological name) devouring these journals with an appetite that I have not had for much of the stuff we are sent for many years.

So, I am glad that I resisted the temptation to start a new blog, because articles like this deserve to be on the main bloggo pages, not shoved away to the side like an afterthought because they are not credulous bunkum dealing in surviving dinosaurs or apemen coming out of flying saucers.