13th October 2014 - Orbona fragariae (Óriás télibagoly)

Orbona fragariae (Vieweg, 1790)

One of the prizes of autumn. This was a welcome visitor to my sugared trees in October and early November 2013. It is a rare species throughout its large western Palearctic range. In Hungary it is said to live in very cool and damp habitats, such as undisturbed forest valleys and ravines (Ronkay & Ronkay 2006). My site however, is a warm, dry oak scrub with abundant rosaceous shrubs. It is a 'forest edge habitat', a south facing slope just below the 200 metre contour on the lower fringes of the Bükk mountains. Here its companions were Scotochrosta pulla and Rileyiana fovea. There was therefore the possibility that the 2013 moth was just a stray, but it turned up again, in the same spot (and again at sweet bait, not light) this autumn (13th October 2014). I am therefore now reasonably confident it is resident (though I have not searched for or found larvae). This information may be worthy of note since the species is threatened in many of its localities yet its habitat requirements are incompletely known. Heiner Ziegler and Wolfgang Wagner, outlining the situation in Switzerland and Germany, suggest a somewhat broader range of habitats can be used which includes certain types of rocky hillside, shrub-rich slope, parkland and extensively managed forest edges.

Field notes on my three sightings of the species in Miskolc:
24/10/2013 1  imago at 'sugar' (liquidized fruit) on small Sorbus torminalis trunk, 20:00, 15°C.
02/11/2013 1 imago perched on twig amongst leaf litter on woodland floor, 18:15, 13.5°C, warming flight muscles. By 18:30 had made very short flight to sugared Sorbus torminalis trunk.
13/10/2014 1 imago at rest, 2m up on underside of Crataegus monogyna twig growing under (sugared) Sorbus torminalis, 19:40, 17-18°C. Fell into leaf litter on approach.

3rd April 2014 - Mud-puddling Seraphim

A small group of geometrid moths were found flitting around a shallow rut in this forest trackway and on closer examination some of them were seen working their proboscides on the damp soil surface. They were Lobophora halterata (The Seraphim or Szárnyfüggelékes Araszoló). A brief shower during what had been until then a very dry early spring had resulted in a small puddle forming on the trackway. Whereas elsewhere on the forest floor the water quickly disappeared through soil percolation and evapotranspiration, in the shady rut the moisture was slightly more long lived. 

Lobophora halterata

Mud-puddling - the intake of moisture from damp mud by adult Lepidoptera - is often associated with butterflies and can result in spectacular congregations of insects (see here  for a great 3 minute film about this from Thailand by www.earthtouchnews.com) but many moths have also been observed in this habit. The insects are usually males. In a field study in Pennsylvania by Adler (1982), in which more than 3000 individuals from 10 families of the Lepidoptera were seen visiting puddles, 99% were males. It is thought that this behaviour developed naturally from water drinking. The incidental intake of dissolved sodium ions (and perhaps other nutrients) may have given some reproductive advantage to the insects which has in turn led to the evolution of a behavioural habit which is very strong in some species (but not recorded in others - the biological and nutritional function of mud-puddling is still incompletely understood).

Lobophora halterata

14th March 2014 - sap rising for Nagy Rókalepke

Nagy Rókalepke  -  Nymphalis polychloros  -  Large Tortoiseshell  (phone photo)

Bükkszentkereszt. We saw this Nymphalis polychloros flying round the edge of the forest in bright sunshine at midday. Its activity seemed to centre around a mature hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Closer inspection showed that the butterfly was feeding on, or at least drinking, fluids running down from a wound near the base of the tree. The bark damage was slight - possibly a peck mark from a woodpecker - but the whole of the shaded part of the stem below it was wet. This species of nymphalid is well known for feeding at tree sap (although it does also visit floral nectar, including Sallow) but in this instance the 'sap' was not at all sugary (the tree buds are only now beginning to break), rather watery. It has been a very dry March so far and in the Bükk hills moisture sources at the forest floor are not that common during spells like this. After a few days of strong sunshine, with no leaf canopy and a rush of growth in vernal herbs, soil surface water is very low. This tree wound was probably the only moisture available in the vicinity - nectar sources still being scarce - but whether the insect sought or benefited from the dissolved nutrients being transported from the tree's roots up to its soon-to-unfold canopy I don't know.

High in the hills later that day, and no less exciting than lepidopteran feeding behaviour, we found this scat. It was not very recent and had loosened as it dried out but, judging by the size (the coin is 24mm across) and the fact that it contains masses of hair and fragments of bone, I think this must be Wolf. Opinions welcome... 

possible Wolf dropping

6th May 2013 - suddenly lots of butterflies

First Orange-tip on 22nd April, first Swallowtail on 26th. Occasional Small Tortoiseshell on warmer days during March. Numbers and diversity have been steadily creeping up. This weekend I saw 14 species around Miskolctapolca including representatives of all 6 European butterfly families:

Hesperiidae

Carterocephalus palaemon      Chequered Skipper      Kockás busalepke
Pyrgus malvae                         Grizzled Skipper          Kis Busalepke
Erynnis tages                           Dingy Skipper             Cigány-busalepke

Papilionidae

Papilio machaon          Swallowtail      Fecskefarkú lepke
Iphiclides podalirius    Scarce Swallowtail       Kardoslepke

Pieridae

Anthocharis cardamines          Orange Tip      Hajnalpírlepke

Leptidea sinapis                       Wood White    Mustárlepke 

Lycaenidae

Callophrys rubi            Green Hairstreak         Zöldfonákú Csücsköslepke
Scolitantides orion       Chequered Blue           Szemes Boglarka
Celastrina argiolus       Holly Blue                   Benge-boglárka

Riodinidae

Hamearis lucina           Duke of Burgundy       Kockáslepke

Nymphalidae

Boloria dia                   Violet Fritillary            Kis Gyöngyházlepke
Lasiommata megera     Wall Brown                 Vörös Szemeslepke
Neptis sappho             Common Glider           Kis fehérsávoslepke







Papilio machaon







Pyrgus malvae







Lasiommata megera







Erynnis tages







Iphiclides podalirius





Boloria dia






Scolitantides orion






Callophrys rubi





Hamearis lucina 






Neptis sappho






Leptidea sp.

April 21st - Magyar tavaszi-fésűsbagoly?

I think the moth in the pictures below is Dioszeghyana schmidtii (named after two Hungarian entomologists). This is a Hungarian Red Data Book species and listed on Annexes II & IV of the 1992 'European Habitats Directive', i.e. a species whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation and a species in need of 'strict protection'. Recently it has been found to be more common than originally thought but it is still considered a rare species and, furthermore, one with a restricted distribution within the continent. Its world distribution centres on the Carpathian basin; it was long thought to be a Pannonian bioregion endemic. The range of the species has since been shown to extend south into northern Greece and Turkey (Korompai 2006 and see www.macrolepidoptera.hu).

Two were found amongst the 44 Orthosia cruda in a 40W actinic light trap run overnight on the 17th to 18th April in Miskoltapolca. On 20th April I ran the trap again, but placed it further into the bokkor-erdő. This time there were 10 (and only 9 O. cruda). They are quite distinctive moths although the size is similar to O. cruda. Korompai (2006) usefully summarises the distinctions in external morphology between these two species. I don't have access to the standard reference - Ronkay et al. 2001 - so don't know if this is mentioned, but I also noted that when viewed head-on, the palps of this moth are very noticeably longer than in typical Orthosia cruda.

According to Korompai (2006) "D.schmidtii is an indicator species of the xerothermic loess steppe-forests (Aceri tatarico - Quercetum), formed by Tataric steppe-maple and oaks. It occurs most frequently in this habitat, but it lives in addition also in other natural, well preserved, forest-steppe-oak forests of the plain, of hill-landscapes and foothills of mountains".

The south side of Kis Köves - a small hill on the edge of Miskolc and on the edge of the Bükk hills (but lying outside the national park boundary) does indeed seem like suitable habitat. It has small rocky, grassy patches surrounded by low Quercus pubescens woodland with Acer tartaricum, Prunus mahaleb, Euonymus verrucosus etc and does include a little Quercus cerris (one of the species which has been mentioned along with Q. pubescens and A. tartaricum as a possible food plant). I looked for the species amongst my Orthosia catches when I was in Miskolc in the second half of March last year but this was probably slightly too early in the season. 

40W actinic light 20/04/2013. Large well defined reniform and orbicular stigmata. 

40W actinic light 20/04/2013. Internally the stigmata are not darker than the forewing base colour. A  slightly wavy cross-line is the same colour as the edges of the stigmata.

40W actinic light 20/04/2013. In this photograph the asymmetrical pectination of the male antennae can be seen. According to Ronkay et al. (2001) this is a typical external characteristic of the species (see this thread on lepiforum.de).

40W actinic light 17/04/2013. Shot showing palps.

40W actinic light 17/04/2013. The ground colour appears a deeper, almost chocolate, brown in photographs taken early in the morning or in the evening. In afternoon light (first three photos) the moths have a much more ochraceous appearance.

40W actinic light 17/04/2013.

References

Korompai, T. (2006). A Ponto-Mediterranean speciality of Europe, the "Hungarian Quaker", Dioszeghyana schmidtii (Diószeghy, 1935) (formerly Orthosia schmidti) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). In: Rezbanyai-Reser, L., Kádár, M. and Schreiber, H. 3rd European Moth Nights, 27.4.-1.5.2006, a scientific evaluation (Lepidoptera:Macrolepidoptera).

Ronkay, L., Yela, J. L. & Hreblay, M. (2001). Hadeninae II. - Noctuidae Europaeae. Volume 5. Soro, Entomological Press.




Other species recorded at light in these two sessions were:

Anticlea badiata

Anticlea derivata

Conistra erythrocephala

Conistra rubiginea

Conistra vaccinii

Diurnea fagella

Drymonia ruficornis

Egira conspicillaris

Eriocrania sp.

Eupithecia abbreviata

Eupithecia dodoneata

Eupsilia transversa

Ligdia adustata

Lithophane ornitopus

Nola cicatricalis

Orthosia cerasi

Orthosia gothica

Orthosia incerta

Orthosia miniosa

Polyploca ridens

Semioscopis steinkellneriana

April 2013 - Sallowing/Fűzfavirágozni

I made several visits to the low Salix bushes in a wide open strip (maintained underneath electricity cables) in the forest near Miskolctapolca in mid April but only on three nights did I find any moths feeding on their flowers. Flowering started (anthers emerged) on about the 10th and by the 20th most catkins were looking spent and many plants were leafing. The best night was the 12th when the rain poured down and every bush was busy with noctuids. I couldn't reach many of the catkins in the best clump of bushes because they were so tangled up in very tall brambles. It was good to see the overwinterers, Conistra rubiginea, Conistra erythrocephala and Lithophane ornitopus feeding as well as the common Orthosia species, cruda, gothica and cerasi. The next night I was armed with secateurs and though the conditions were dry and much more pleasant for a human to be out in, there was no throng of moths, just a few Orthosia gothica,  Conistra vaccinii and a very nice couple of fresh Cerastis rubricosa. 



Változékony Őszibagoly           Conistra vaccinii           Chestnut
enjoying a meal at a female Sallow catkin after a long winter.

There are a good number of tall Salix caprea trees along the edges of the rides and firebreaks on the north sides of the hills near Miskolctapolca. These of course produce hundreds of times more catkins than the small bushes under the pylons. Unfortunately they are mostly too high to really look at well. One night I tried the technique recommended in old books of laying a sheet on the ground beneath the crown of a tree and giving the branches a sharp tap with a long stick. This didn't bring down a large number of moths but it did  produce two species not found on the low bushes in the open (where it is palpably much cooler half an hour after dusk): Conistra rubiginosa and Orthosia munda.  

Vörös Őszibagoly         Conistra rubiginea         Dotted Chestnut
freshly arrived at this male plant.

At the end of March someone had cut down one of these Sallows, a male, presumably to use or sell the catkins for Easter decorations. They had left some scraps behind on the floor so I took a few of the sticks home and put them in a bucket of water. These opened about the same time as the still growing plants but, although they attracted bees during the day didn't seem to be attractive to noctuids. On the 15th however I was pleased to find a Triphosa dubitata feeding on a catkin that was by then passed its best. We've encountered this a few times on our south facing slope where its food-plant, Rhamnus cathartica, grows. I suspect it might not often have the opportunity to feed on Salix nectar after its hibernation. 

Vörhenyes Tavaszibagoly          Cerastis rubricosa         Red Chestnut
This moth had evidently already been feeding at male Sallow bush this evening before it visited this female plant. There are grains of pollen on the moth's antenna, proboscis, face and on the fur of the underneath of its thorax.

The sudden change in conditions from snow and ice to temperatures in the mid 20s this spring has caused some early flowers to be over very quickly. My particular patch of Salix bushes are now finished as far as adult moths feeding goes. Another shrub native here which flowers early, before its leaves appear, and when there are few other nectar sources around, is Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry or Húsos Som). Its flowers seem to be used by Lacewings (Neuroptera) after dusk but so far I have only witnessed one lepidopteran visitor to them - a Hypena rostralis.

These are the 12 species recorded feeding at Sallow 10th to 17th April 2013, Miskolctapolca:

Conistra rubiginea                     Dotted Chestnut           Vörös Őszibagoly

Conistra erythrocephala            Red-headed Chestnut   Vörösfejű Őszibagoly

Conistra vaccinii                       Chestnut                       Változékony Őszibagoly

Emmelina monodactyla Morning-glory Plume Moth       Közönséges Tollasmoly

Orthosia cruda                          Small Quaker               Kis Fésűsbagoly

Orthosia gothica                       Hebrew Character        Foltos Fésűsbagoly

Orthosia cerasi             Common Quaker          Közepes Tavaszi-fésűsbagoly

Cerastis rubricosa                     Red Chestnut                Vörhenyes Tavaszibagoly

Lithophane ornitopus                Grey Shoulder-knot      Közönséges Fabagoly

Conistra rubiginosa                   Black-spot Chestnut     Télibagolylepke

Orthosia munda                        Twin-spotted Quaker   Tölgyes-fésűsbagoly

Triphosa dubitata                      The Tissue                    Kutyabenge Araszoló

Compensations on the blank Sallow nights were a Brachionycha nubeculosa netted on the ride and an Agonopterix pallorella flitting about amongst dead Knapweed stems.

February 2013 - old chestnuts and a Madagascan comet

Tölgy Tavaszi-araszoló

Agriopis leucophaearia

Spring Usher

Tölgy Tavaszi-araszoló

Agriopis leucophaearia

Spring Usher

The first Tölgy Tavaszi-araszoló (Agriopis leucophaearia) of the year was seen on February 8th at Nagy Száraz Völgy near Tapolca but perhaps they were out before that - I noticed this only because it had settled by chance on a white painted waymarker in the forest (which had also been visited by a woodpecker!). Trunk searches since then have produced a steady stream of resting males (like many winter active geomterid moths, the females are flightless and have only vestigial wings) on oaks, hornbeams and limes usually about a metre above the ground (but that might be more to do with trunk-search ergonomics than the moth's real preference....). The British know this moth as the Spring Usher because of its late winter emergence time which seems to herald the change of the season. They stick around long enough to see the arrival of spring but by April they'll mostly be gone (having left eggs ready to hatch and feed on the oak leaves when they come).

 

Zöldes Tavaszi-araszoló

Phigalia pilosaria

Pale Brindled Beauty

Zöldes Tavaszi-araszoló

Phigalia pilosaria

Pale Brindled Beauty

In the middle of the month there were a couple of rather mild days when you could smell the stirrings of life in the soil (though the week after that Miskolc was thick under snow again, albeit briefly). On the 17th the dog picked up her first tick (Ixodidae) of 2013. For me this was a sign that Pale Brindled Beauty (Zöldes Tavaszi-araszoló, Phigalia pilosaria) might be out and I thought about dusting off the trap to see if we could catch one or two in the garden. But no need, having de-ticked the dog, we then saw one fluttering, ghost-like, low amongst the hornbeams, before dusk beneath the Várhegy. The temperature was only about 2°C but he knew it was time -for me a Pale Brindled Beauty is the real 'spring usher' although it has a similar flight period to A. leucophaearia. I had a half hearted attempt to find one of the flightless females he was searching for on the tree trunks but quickly gave up; I had no torch with me and am insensitive to Geometrid pheromones. I hope he had better luck.

Amata phegea larvae grazing on bryophytes at the base of a hornbeam

Another lepidopteran 'spring usher' for the Bükk must be these appealing little caterpillars which suddenly appear on tree bases round about the same time as A. leucophaearia adults start to become noticeable. I first saw one of these in the middle of the month while looking for the latter on tree trunks. I assumed it had just come out of hibernation and was about to walk off in search of food, or else crawl back under the bark, but subsequently these became a common sight, sometimes three, or four together and more often than not on tree bases. They are not bothered which tree - oak, maple, hornbeam, beech and lime are all used. The attraction is the epiphytic mosses on the foot of the tree (mostly Eurynchium praelongum and Hypnum cupressiforme I think) close observation showing that they feed on these bryophytes (although they are shy about it when approached) - not much fresh herbage on the forest floor yet. However, they are clearly very polyphagous; one was seen eating a dead mistletoe leaf, one on a blade of grass in the middle of a ride, two or three on overwintering Geum urbanum leaves and one even munching through the thin layer of bark which had been separated from a tree twig. These are the larvae of the Nine-spotted (Fehérpettyes Álcsüngőlepke, Amata phegea) which species' given foodplants are herbs such as Plantago, Rumex, Galium etc.

I tried the 40W actinic lamp on 26th and recorded about 60 moths of 7 species:

 Agriopis leucophaearia - Spring Usher - Tölgy Tavaszi-araszoló

Alsophila aescularia - March Moth - Vadgesztenye-araszoló

Theria rupicapraria - Tavaszi Kökényaraszoló

Agriopis marginaria - Dotted Border - Sárgás Tavaszi-araszoló

Apocheima hispidaria - Small Brindled Beauty - Borzas Tavaszi-araszoló

Triphosa dubitata - The Tissue - Kutyabenge Araszoló

Conistra vaccinii - Chestnut - Változékony őszibagoly

The last two species overwinter as adult moths. Only one Noctuid, I had hoped for an early Orthosia or two, but just a couple of tatty Chestnuts (interesting that the early ones to emerge from hibernation seem in worse condition than others - a trap a week later produced some rather smart looking individuals).

 

Unknown Sphingid and Madagascan Moon Moth

The most colourful by far of my February moths are these two specimens which were presented to my on my birthday and of which I am extremely proud. One is clearly a Madagascan Moon Moth or Comet Moth (on account of its trailing wing tails). This is rare in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. The other, a member of the Sphingidae (and apparently the subfamily Macroglossinae) may be new to science. Big thanks to Anna and Karesz for helping push the month's species total into double figures!