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.