Sunday, 25 November 2012

Tollas Púposszövő/Plumed Prominent

Ptilophora plumigera - an alert male with wings and antennae unfolded as it musters energy to fly
These have been the stars of November. The first one, a male, appeared at a lit window on the evening of 23rd October and was met with some excitement. With these plumes it was immediately recognisable despite it being the first Plumed Prominent (Ptilophora plumigera) I had seen. It is a scarce moth in Britain, restricted to a few scattered populations in some southern woods with Field Maple, Acer campestre, according to Waring and Townsend's field guide (although interestingly they say larvae have occasionally been collected from Sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus). My 40W actinic trap caught two (both males) on the night of the 26th and I was very pleased about that. This was just the vanguard though. Throughout the first half of November it became an increasingly regular 'kitchen window moth'. On the 14th November the outside porch light was accidentally left on in the early evening and at least 10 males alighted on the whitewashed walls in the space of just half an hour between 17:00 & 17:30. Overnight traps in sight of south-facing woodland with Acer campestre on the 12th and 18th November attracted 20 and 23 individuals respectively of which just over 10% were females. It was by far the most abundant species on both these nights. The females are said to arrive at light later in the night than the males. The antennae of the females are not plumed (see photos) and their forewings are somewhat duller and darker (although there is considerable variation in the ground colour of the males' wings from a pale yellow to a rich tobacco). Although this is not mentioned in my field guide the females, at least in the individuals I encountered, were slightly larger as well, not just in the abdomen but in having a larger wingspan.
 
They seem to be fading away now (along with their feathered friends, Tollascsápú Araszoló, Colotois pennaria, which have been regular at windows and numerous in light traps since late September and the last one of which I saw a week ago). This is only the third Notodontid I have recorded in Miskolc to date (whereas as at 25.11.2012 76 Noctuids and 68 Geometrids). The first was 'The Argentine' or Ezüstfoltos Púposszövő (Spatalia argentina), which vies with this one for impressiveness. When I can find out more about this I intend to add a blog post on it. The other was Drymonia ruficormis.


A female Ptilophora plumigera with filamentous antennae - one of three attracted to 40W actinic light during the night of 12th to 13th November 2012
 
the female is not 'tollas' and, in common with many nocturnal moth species, it flies to light less readily than the male.

 
One of at least 21 males which came to a 40W actinic lamp in the first two hours after dusk on 18th November 2012.

 



 

Thursday, 15 November 2012

Őszibaglyok és Borostyánvirágok - Autumn Noctuidae & Ivy blossom

Vörös Őszibagoly Conistra rubiginea Dotted Chestnut


I had heard before from lepidopterists about how great a time can be had recording moths at Ivy (Hedera helix) blossom but until now my efforts to find moths in this way had been pretty disappointing. Its advantage for the moth recorder is that it flowers late in the year when other possible nectar sources are becoming scarcer. It can therefore function as a relatively efficient natural attractant, focussing the feeding moths present in a habitat together into one place. In Britain, where ivy is a very common woodland plant, finding good stands of it in bloom can be less easy than you might expect - the plants need warmth and sun to produce much blossom. Edges of woods can be good but often the flowers are too high to inspect easily. And then you need the weather conditions to coincide - the evenings need to be warm and calm enough for moths to be actively feeding. Conditions in the British autumn and early winter are often not like that. Living in Scotland where Ivy doesn't even always flower didn't help but even when I have found suitable clumps in England usually it has been in the wrong place and the wrong time for me to observe many moths.


  Zöldes Csipkésbagoly               Phlogophora meticulosa            Angle Shades
 
This year was different because I was in Hungary and in a house which has a big, south-facing patch of ivy alongside it which was well into bloom by late September. In Britain Hedera helix is often in flower a month later and tends to be visited mainly by winter Geometrids and the over-wintering species of Noctuidae (Leverton 2001 Enjoying Moths Poyser). Thronged with Hymenoptera and Diptera by day there were also good numbers of Lepidoptera by night. In the period from 27th September to October 5th, when the evenings were generally warm, I made 53 records consisting of 20 species (about the same number of species as my 40W actinic light trap attracted at the end of September) although I am sure these numbers underplay the total amount of moth activity there was. After that, although there was still sufficient nectar to attract flies by day for another week or two, the nights became distinctly cooler and no more moths were to be found.





Gamma Bagoly      Autographa gamma       Silver Y
unlike the other Noctuids found feeding this moth (in common with others of its subfamily, the Plusiinae) feeds in a semi-hover in front of the flowers - its legs are used for support but the wings are not folded and seldom remain still for long.
Four families were represented but three of these, the Pterophoridae, Arctiidae and Geometridae, only by single individuals; most of the moths were Noctuids. There were 2 species of 'any month' moth (Phlogophora meticulosa and Emmelina monodactyla) plus a Buttoned Snout (Hypena rostralis), a species with a protracted flight period, and  four species of Noctuid which overwinter as adults. The rest were summer or autumn species and although not a huge diversity there was a good range of species some of which, at least for me, were rather choice.
 


Élénksárga Őszibagoly         Jodia croceago             Orange Upperwing
perhaps this moth was the best surprise, an overwintering species but one that my light trap failed to detect either in autumn or spring. It is a warmth loving species with a Holomediterranean distribution, (very rare in Britian or possibly extinct) in Hungary probably associated with the Quercus pubescens karst scrub-woodland habitat which occurs in a scatter of patches amongst more extensive cover of other woodland types, for example, in the Bükk hills. There is a fragment of such woodland on Kis Köves here in Miskolctapolca and it is pleasing to think that the moth may breed here.


Name Magyar1 English family flight period2
Agrochola circellaris Világosbarna Őszibagoly The Brick Noctuidae VIII-X
Agrochola laevis Könnyű Őszibagoly Noctuidae VIII-X
Allophyes oxyacanthae Galagonyabagoly Green-brindled Crescent  Noctuidae IX-XI
Autographa gamma Gamma Bagoly Silver Y Noctuidae V-X
Conistra rubiginea Vörös Őszibagoly Dotted Chestnut Noctuidae IX-V
Conistra vaccinii Változékony Őszibagoly Chestnut Noctuidae IX-V
Dryobotodes eremita Változékony Tölgybagoly Brindled Green Noctuidae IX-XI
Eilema sp. egy Zuzmószövőlepke a Footman Arctidae  
Emmelina monodactyla Közönséges Tollasmoly Morning-glory Plume Moth Pterophoridae I-XII
Eupsilia transversa Rozsdabarna Télibagoly Satellite Noctuidae IX-V
Hypena rostralis Közönségés Karcsúbagoly Buttoned Snout Noctuidae III-XI
Idaea degeneraria Barnasávos Apróaraszoló  Portland Ribbon wave Geometridae V, VIII-IX
Jodia croceago Élénksárga Őszibagoly Orange Upperwing Noctuidae IX-V
Lygephila craccae  Bükkönybagoly Scarce Blackneck Noctuidae VI-IX
Mythimna albipuncta Fehérpettyes Rétibagoly White-point Noctuidae V-IX
Mythimna l-album L-betűs Fűbagoly L-album Wainscot Noctuidae V-X
Noctua comes Kis Sárgafübagoly  Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctuidae VI-IX
Phlogophora meticulosa Zöldes Csipkésbagoly Angle Shades Noctuidae V-X
Xanthia gilvago Foltos Sárgabagoly Dusky-lemon Sallow  Noctuidae VIII-X
Xanthia icteritia Nyárfa-Őszibagoly Sallow Noctuidae VIII-X
   
1. following names given at www.macrolepidoptera.hu  
2. largely based on phenological information given at www.lepidoptera.pl    
A list of the 20 species of lepidoptera found naturally feeding at Hedera helix blossom in late September- Early October 2012, Miskolctapolca, Hungary



Bükkönybagoly            Lygephila craccae       Scarce Blackneck
 

Galagonyabagoly          Allophyes oxyacanthae           Green-brindled Crescent

L-betűs Fűbagoly         Mythimna l-album       L-album Wainscot