Euchromius cambridgei- a lucky find

The past couple of days have been completely packed full of moth-related things to the point where I haven't actually had very much time to do anything else, including writing this overdue blog post. You may well have already heard, but it has all centred around this small moth, who's existence as a species was unbeknown to me before Thursday...

"Oh shit, that really needs to be potted up" was my first thought when it landed on the outside of the garden actinic trap early on Thursday night, during a fantastic spell of weather which had already seen several new species added to the garden list. The sight of a small, compact crambid with a white medial fascia, a row of dark subterminal dots and a beautiful shiny fringe pretty much eliminated every British species I could think of, and instantly got the adrenaline going. I pondered over its identity long into the night, and after correspondence with Martin Honey (lepidoptera curator at the Natural History Museum) and several county recorders the next morning, the moth was confirmed as Euchromius cambridgei- a species distributed through southern and eastern Europe, from France to Ukraine, and into Africa and the Middle East.

The weird thing is that this moth represents the 2nd record of the species for the UK, which is something I've been struggling to comprehend. I have been lucky enough in the past to come across several new species for the county, but to trap something in my own back garden that has only been recorded in Britain on a single previous occasion- in Northampton in 2005- is quite surreal. My complete fascination and admiration for the moth has made it surprisingly hard to come to terms with the fact that it has to be killed to allow it to ultimately be sent to the Natural History Museum for incorporation into their world renowned national collection. I can't help but yearn for unknowable answers to the secrets that this little individual holds. Where exactly has it come from? What prompted it to drop down into my meagre light trap in north Surrey? Why hasn't it been found more frequently? The species isn't even fully understood in its home range of mainland Europe, with no firm knowledge of a possible foodplant.

Taking into consideration the known migration potential of the genus itself (Euchromius ocellea is a fairly regular migrant to the south coast) and the coincidental arrival of Britain's first Aedia funesta at Dungeness on the Friday night, some people I've spoken to believe there to be a surprisingly strong case to be put forward for this being a genuine long-distance immigrant. Whatever its origins, the moth has certainly provided me with an eventful couple of days, and has even satisfied a small crowd of 'moth admirers' from as far away as Worcester!

Talk about a lucky find, eh? I doubt I'll experience anything like this again.

On the edge of a slippery slope

June is around about the time of year when I start to get overly excited for the upcoming Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) season. Being a relative newbie to the order, it's nice to be able to wander through water meadows and appreciate these dainty little hunters for their absolute beauty without feeling the same urgent need to find, identify and record as I do when looking for moths. 

The first two beauties were found around the picturesque ponds at Runnymede yesterday, whilst the others are from Esher Common a few days before.

Emerald Damselfly- think I've only seen this species before, and it was certainly no less exciting to stumble across it again! 

Azure Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

Give it a week and I'll be twitching White-faced Darter in Shropshire.

Damn nature, you scary!

Witnessed this mad scene at Stokes Field yesterday evening- an Assassin Empid fly dispatching and sucking the life out of an unfortunate Crambus lathoniellus whilst at the same time hanging from a leaf with one leg. I don't know whether to applaud the thing or feel scared for the human race...

Gnarly.

Sloe Pug

Sloe Pug

This dull grey-looking moth, caught in the garden last night, may not seem like anything interesting to the conventional mind, but to me it's a priceless reward for three years spent examining Green Pugs to finally come across the distinctively curved outer-edge to the post-medial band shown by Sloe Pug, the less common of the two confusion species.

Yeah, I am genuinely that sad.

Great Oak Beauty

Whilst I consider whether it might be more appropriate to rename the blog 'Bill's Mothing', here are some moths from the garden last night. The white sheet above the trap was still crawling with moths when I finally hit the hay at 2am, so heaven knows what was missed as I slept through the 4:30am alarm and finally awoke to an almost empty trap at 10am.

It's a miracle that this Great Oak Beauty remained undisturbed all morning, but I'm grateful it did- a very welcome first for the garden. Despite its nationally scarce status, the moth appears to be quite well distributed through Surrey with several fellow enthusiasts also getting lucky this week...

Great Oak Beauty- to give an idea of size, I had to pot it up in a pint glass.

The diagnostic underside markings.

Heart & Club and Heart & Dart

The Sycamore- another addition to the garden list, though quite literally overshadowed by the Beauty.

Big things in small packages

It's always nice to find something completely unexpected on a local patch, but it's just that extra bit nicer when it happens to be an orange moth called Commophila aeneana. Hundreds of these dazzling little micros were flying in an abandoned rose field yesterday evening, constituting what appears to be one of the few county records of a colony away from chalk...

Commophila aeneana- an unmistakable moth scarcely distributed in the southern counties, feeding on Ragwort.

The same rose field held Tree Pipit and Redstart last year, as well as various other notable invertebrates.

In all the excitement, I almost completely ignored a single flowering Pyramidal Orchid- a mystical beast of a plant at Stokes Field.

Stokes Field has always held a place close to my heart, not least because it's completely untouched in the way of entomological coverage, but also because I originally cut my ornithological teeth there; staring on in awe at the sight of my first local Nuthatch many years ago. Inevitably, being so accessible to the surrounding housing and with so little designated protection, the site has become dominated by dog walkers and nocturnal fun seekers, making it sometimes more of a hassle to visit than it's worth.

It's evenings like yesterday, with the last rays of sunlight illuminating the grass and enigmatic moths flying about, that make me question how my interest in this little oasis could ever wane...

A Stag with longhorns

I figured the blog has been a bit biased towards moths recently, so here are two fantastic beetles to even things out; both of which have graced the garden in the past couple of days. I've lucky enough to be able to say that the Stag Beetle- now a globally threatened species- is an annual occurrence here, often taking respite in the garden from their ungainly evening flight. The longhorn is completely new, and arrived out of the blue to perch on the front door this afternoon...

Stag Beetle

Stenurella melanura (Black-striped Longhorn)

Hoary Footman

You don't need to go far to read about the disheartening decline exhibited by moth (and butterfly) populations throughout Britain. The outlook is sombre for many species, caused largely though human exploitation and destruction of delicate habitats. 

Luckily, there are a number of moths currently fighting against the trend. In particular, species such as Small Ranunculus, Toadflax Brocade, Jersey Tiger and Tree-lichen Beauty are establishing themselves in towns throughout central and southern England, despite having previously been restricted only to the most coastal localities. Hoary Footman is another example of a recent expansionist; historically found around sea-cliffs along the south-west coast but now widespread in the London suburbs. Quite why it's population has suddenly boomed is beyond me- perhaps it has something to do with improving air quality, and the subsequent surge in abundance of lichens upon which the larvae feed? Whatever the cause, it's a pleasure to have in the garden, and last night saw the much anticipated arrival of this year's first... 

Hoary Footman- coming to a garden near you.

A mystery sound in the woods

Strolling through beech woods along the North Downs Way yesterday morning, I couldn't help but feel a little wistful for the sea of bluebells that carpeted the ground just a few weeks ago- now completely replaced with bare ground, bracken and leafing trees. The bluebell spectacle is by far my favourite event on the nature calender, but it's always surprising how quickly they come and go.

Out on the chalk slopes it was a different story, with Common Spotted Orchid, Chalky Milkwort, Rock-rose, Germander Speedwell and all manner of wild herbs adding an array of colour to the downs. With the plants came the top-quality moths, including a few which have managed to evade me in the past. The nationally scarce Stephensia brunnichella was abundant around clumps of Basil, as was Mompha miscella around its foodplant, Rock-rose. It's a miracle I even managed to get a shot of the Mompha- its tendency to scurry through the long grass made it an absolute nightmare to photograph; not helped by the fact that the subject itself was just a few millimetres long!

Stephensia brunnichella

Mompha miscella

With things on the invertebrate front going better than expected, I decided to try my luck at finding Britain's smallest 'longhorn', Cauchas fibulella around Germander Speedwell, its foodplant...

Well, what do you know- I found it... Cauchas fibulella.

Pancalia leuwenhoekella- one of the commoner day-flying moths on chalk downland.

I've often stumbled across the empty shells of Roman Snail whilst out on the downs, but until today I'd never seen one with an actual snail inside. These gigantic molluscs stick out like a sore thumb to predators; it's no wonder they're so rare nowadays..

Roman Snail with quite a big phone.

On the way back, a wrong turn took me off the beaten track and along a path leading through a long line of fascinating ancient Yews, the only sign of any life within them being the odd wisp of song from a territorial Firecrest. By the time I'd finally made it back to the car, another bird call had started up in the canopy. I never saw the bird itself, but its call has left me in absolute confusion- I can't remember hearing anything quite like it before...



I'm sure I'll be kicking myself when I finally work it out, but in the meantime feel free to put me out of my misery...

Night of the nondescript

The mild, cloudy weather of late held out for the majority of last night- perfect conditions for a moth or two. The alarm woke me up at half 4 this morning, and I was soon confronted with the satisfying (but slightly daunting) sight of hundreds of moths settled in and around the moth trap. The fantastic acrobatics of some late-to-bed bats provided welcome entertainment whilst I processed the catch, their silhouetted bodies effortlessly swooping over the trap and frequently landing on the vertical concrete walls of the neighbouring house- no doubt taking advantage of the free meals on offer.

Thankfully, 57 species of moth survived the night- the highlight being this rather underwhelming micro which looks set to be Mompha sturnipennella, a rare species in the county. Problem is that it's rather similar to Mompha subbistrigella, so will have to be examined up close with a microscope to confirm its identity...

It really was night of the nondescript, with the very grey Exoteleia dodecella and the even greyer Glyphipterix fuscoviridella being notable records for the garden.

Exoteleia dodecella

Glyphipterix fuscoviridella

Other highlights included fantastic examples of Buff-tip & Lime Hawk-moth, as well as these characters...

Argyresthia spinosella

Buttoned Snout

Dwarf Pug- just about.

Prays fraxinella

I wouldn't normally put the trap out two nights in a row, but with the mild weather set to continue who knows what's out there...