FlyinginFordham: Kicking into gear, the Ermines are here

As the years have gone by, I've had huge influx’s of Ermine moths, the Yponomeuta variety. Usually a mixture of 5 possible species, a couple of them can be told apart, but the 3 that are inseparable are cagnagella, malinellus & padella.

Last night I got 3 of evonymella (Easily distinguished from the others by its multi-dotted forewings), and 1 of the triple headache cag/mal/pad as I put them down on my spreadsheet, the first of many no doubt.

There was a bit more activity and that was encouraging, especially as we head towards warmer days and nights.

Only two macro moths were new, Dwarf Cream Wave and Haworth's Pug.

The micros fared better with 8 new species for the year.

Crambus pascuella was welcome after a year off in 2025 for reasons unknown, the odd little Carcina quercana (or Flat Cooper as it was affectionately known).

Netting at dusk yielded a year first Dichrorampha vancouverana, a real challenge to pot up from the net!

Get those traps ready!