Welcome

Hello and welcome to my moth Blog. I now reside in a small village in East Cambridgeshire called Fordham. My Blog's aim is to promote and encourage others to participate in the wonderful hobby that is Moth-trapping.
Moth records are vital for building a picture of our ecosystem around us, as they really are the bottom of the food chain. They are an excellent early indicator of how healthy a habitat is. I openly encourage people to share their findings via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
So why do we do it? well for some people it is to get an insight into the world of Moths, for others it is to build a list of species much like 'Twitching' in the Bird world. The reason I do it....you just never know what you might find when you open up that trap! I hope to show what different species inhabit Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties.
On this Blog you will find up-to-date records and pictures.
I run a trap regularly in my garden and also enjoy doing field trips to various localities over several different counties.
Please also check out the links in the sidebar to the right for other people's Blogs and informative Websites.
Thanks for looking and happy Mothing!

KEY

NFY = New Species For The Year
NFG = New Species For The Garden
NEW! = New Species For My Records

Any Species highlighted in RED signifies a totally new species for my records.

If you have any questions or enquiries then please feel free to email me
Contact Email : bensale@rocketmail.com

My Latest Notables and Rarities

Sunday 26 October 2014

Acleris Schalleriana study

Acleris schaleriana, a smallish sized Micro Moth of the Tortrix family, often confused with Acleris variegana and Acleris sparsana.
The status of this moth in Hertfordshire is rather sporadic with scattered records across the County, no doubt far more common than the map (2006) suggests.
It feeds on Way-faring Tree and less so on Guelder Rose.
At the front of our property we have a bush that does not seem to resemble either species, having looked through various books and online sources I have yet to find out what else Acleris schalleriana is prone to feeding on.

Records

Acleris schalleriana is a regular moth to the trap all year round though more regular in the Autumn months. My earliest record has been on the 03/01/12 and the latest (so far) on the 10/11/2013

Records in total for the 3 years at my property are

2012: 6
2013: 23
2014: 11 (so far)

Foodplant

Since finding 7 Acleris schalleriana's on the 17/10/13 over the front wall of the house, I made further investigations in the surrounding area, and found that a shrub underneath the windowsill, could have been responsible for the emergence of so manyn adults, the bush was inspected, but no caterpillars or pupa were found but extensive leaf damage was present, crumpled brown dry leaves.
I vowed to check next year at a similiar date, (he we are) and upon inspection of the bush this evening I disturbed three adults and uncurled various damaged leaves which had been spun together by a silken web.
I found 5 exited pupa and one tenanted pupa.

I have posted pictures of the bush and leaves from it to hopefully aid some identification, could this just be Way-faring Bush (Tree)? the leaves are quite smooth to the touch both sides with a distinct hairy edge with no toothing present.


Leaves from the bush












Leaf 1










Leaf 2










The bush in question












 
Exited Pupa of Acleris Schalleriana









Larval damage










Tenanted Pupa










Distribution Map (-2006 Copyright HMG)




2 comments:

  1. Think your shrub is Viburnum tinus. Regards, Ross

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Ross, Someone on Flickr said the same species. Regards. Ben

    ReplyDelete