Some moths I record in my garden

Mothman

mike65 wrote: »

Cool thread, now I know why you are called....etc!

splish

Great thread mothman. Some interesting looking moths from everyone. Found this moth in my kitchen the other day. Thinking its a White Ermine moth but not sure.

Mothman

Splish, it is a White Ermine.

John mac

Think this is a ghost moth.

Mothman

John mac wrote: »

Think this is a ghost moth.

It is, a female.

The male is white and can be seen in meadows at dusk "dancing" at grass seed level.
The term for this dancing is Lekking.

splish

Heres another one. Looking at the UK Moths website it looks like a Lesser Cream Wave.



Sorry about the poor picture quality.

Mothman

splish wrote: »

Heres another one. Looking at the UK Moths website it looks like a Lesser Cream Wave.

Sorry about the poor picture quality.

Don't worry about picture quality. Its fine for identification.
This is a Cream Wave, rather than a Lesser Cream Wave.
The shape and the cross lines differ slightly.
I assume this was seen in southern half of country

splish

Mothman wrote: »

I assume this was seen in southern half of country

Yes the picture was taken in Wexford on a beautiful sunny day. Is the species restricted to the southern half of Ireland?

Half-cocked

This flew into the kitchen tonight. I think it is a Buff Arches? Very exotic looking creature.

Mothman

splish wrote: »

Yes the picture was taken in Wexford on a beautiful sunny day. Is the species restricted to the southern half of Ireland?

Splish, I missed the question added in via edit
See MothsIreland map for recorded distribution of cream wave

This flew into the kitchen tonight. I think it is a Buff Arches? Very exotic looking creature.

It is Buff Arches, A nice fresh one as well. Fresh meaning, no sign of wear.
A widespread species

I like to enter all sightings into database including casual ones to help fill in gaps. PM me details, location, Grid reference (use www.gridreference.ie ) date and full name, though I can enter anonymous

trebor28

didnt see this one in the thread so far so posting it now.
mothman do you know what it is?was inside on a wall when the window was left open late while the light was on.

trebor28

mothman is there any ones that you would like people to look out for in particular that might be rare or located in one particular area?

Mothman

trebor28 wrote: »

didnt see this one in the thread so far so posting it now.
mothman do you know what it is?was inside on a wall when the window was left open late while the light was on.

This is a Common Emerald. The checkered fringe has been worn away.
Recorded Irish distribution

Mothman

trebor28 wrote: »

mothman is there any ones that you would like people to look out for in particular that might be rare or located in one particular area?

What about this one I've just seen.


This is a Lunar Hornet Moth. A little larger than a queen wasp. It has emerged from willow that I cut down last winter and chopped into firewood and stacked in my shed. About half the willows I cut had borings by this species and while it was totally unexpected to see them appearing out of the logs its great to have "proof" and see it with my own eyes.
This is the pupal exuvia

This is not the first one to emerge because there is another exuvia. I wonder how many others are in the wood pile out of sight? I'll check next winter.

Another view of adult


I'm sure this moth is widespread in Ireland, but not recorded. Only a few records. A day time species and if casually seen probably overlooked as being what it is mimicking. Probably needless to say, but they are harmless
The larvae feed in Sallows and Willows in the base and roots. The only external signs are holes about 1 cent in size near base of tree. At this time of year you may see the exuvia in the hole which is left behind when adult emerges such as in the middle photo above. The holes remain visible for couple years until tree outgrows them. Favoured trees are usually in sunshine. The adults may be seen in early morning on tree trunks after emerging or on miserable days like to day.

This is one of the clearwing species of moths. Day flying and very much under recorded with the likely hood of a couple species resident but having been overlooked waiting for someone to "discover" them

trebor28

Mothman wrote: »

This is a Common Emerald. The checkered fringe has been worn away.
Recorded Irish distribution

well that distribution isnt quite right because i this was was smack bang in central tipperary.

my question on rare species of moth was about moths in general not this one i had.
nice lunar hornet moth btw.
must start trying to notice them now myself rather than just passing them off.

Alun

That Lunar Hornet Moth is a mad looking thing alright. Would the only giveaway be the hairs on it's abdomen, or would it's behaviour (flight patterns etc.) also distinguish it from the wasp it's imitating?

Mothman

trebor28 wrote: »

well that distribution isnt quite right because i this was was smack bang in central tipperary.

I was careful with my words, note "Recorded" There are not many moth recorders, though one chap in Tipp has started recording this year. PM location details as per my message before your Common Emerald photo and I'll gladly put a dot in Co. Tipp.

trebor28 wrote: »

my question on rare species of moth was about moths in general not this one i had.
must start trying to notice them now myself rather than just passing them off.

It's difficult to quantify rarity because of the lack of recording and also the bias towards using light traps. Not all species some to light. There are large gaps in recorded distribution for most common & widespread species

Mothman

Alun wrote: »

That Lunar Hornet Moth is a mad looking thing alright. Would the only giveaway be the hairs on it's abdomen, or would it's behaviour (flight patterns etc.) also distinguish it from the wasp it's imitating?

Well it didn't buzz like a wasp though there was a hum off the wings. It is large, larger than a queen wasp which is itself much larger than the worker wasps that we normally see. I don't know anything more about the habits of this moth to comment further.

trebor28

Mothman wrote: »

I was careful with my words, note "Recorded".

sorry if you took me up as being aggressive, i wasnt and definitely not towards you.

Mothman

trebor28 wrote: »

sorry if you took me up as being aggressive, i wasnt and definitely not towards you.

Oh you're grand. Its so easy to misinterpret the written word that I don't take offense nor dish it out though I can see that my reply could be seen as being smart alec like.

V Bull

Hi Mothman, is this a moth or butterfly and what kind, if possible. Couldn't find it in the other photos in the thread. Bad quality photos, used mobile...

Mothman

V Bull wrote: »

Hi Mothman, is this a moth or butterfly and what kind, if possible. Couldn't find it in the other photos in the thread. Bad quality photos, used mobile...

This is a Speckled Wood Butterfly. Just to confuse matters it is arguable that butterflies are a particular type of day flying moth

Butterfly records can be submitted online on ButterflyIreland website

littlebug

re recording sightings.
it's something I would never have thought of doing. unfortunately i don't usually know what I'm looking at unless I take a photograph and look it up. I was looking at the butterfly ireland website just now and see that some of my regular haunts are listed as "missing squares" for the wall brown. I'm almost sure I have photos of wall brown from those locations but need to wait to get my own laptop back to check.
It's funny how you never think that something that you barely glance at as it flutters past in your own back garden could be important data for someone

Half-cocked

2 Swallowtailed moths in the garden last night, they posed for photos!

littlebug

Cinnabar? with some little red bugs. Strangely enough I'm not very good at identifying little bugs :pac:

Velvet shank

littlebug wrote: »

Cinnabar? with some little red bugs. Strangely enough I'm not very good at identifying little bugs :pac:

the other guys look like soldier beetles...

http://gardenofireland.com/wildlife/beetles/soldier_beetle_b_1.jpg

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

Cinnabar?

Yes.
Ragwort is the main foodplant though I've see them regularly on Groundsel.

Dony

Is this a moth, Mothman?
Took it in Italy last month.

Mothman

Dony wrote: »

Is this a moth, Mothman?
Took it in Italy last month.

Indeed they are and if you count the spots on each wing, this will give you english name
The Nine-spotted
Not a species of Ireland.

littlebug

Mothman are there any other ways of attracting (and retaining) moths? I'm sort of intrigued by the variety of the critters that are out there that I can't see but the traps are a tad expensive for starting out (DIY + me + electrics= probably not a good idea:o).
I've read about wine ropes... do these work?!