West Wickham Moths, May 2014

Light Brocade, Lacanobia w-latinum, and Pale Tussock,  Calliteara pudibunda.
West Wickham Common light trap set on 7 May 2014.

The West Wickham Common light trap is going again!  The ranger who used to live there has moved to a new job, and another man, Barry, has moved into the cottage.  So I am pleased that he has been able to find time among sorting everything out to get the moth trap into action in time for the new season.

It's still quite cool, and there was a low count, 20 moths of 13 species.  But this included plenty of enjoyment.  For example, the two above were very pretty, and the Light Brocade was a pristine, fresh specimen.  The Pale Tussock is from a different family that rests with forelegs held out in front, and you can just see an eye peeping out from between its hairy knees.

Pale Tussock, Calliteara pudibunda forma concolor, playing dead after being moved onto the measuring paper.
West Wickham Common light trap set on 7 May 2014.

This is the dark ("melanic") form of the Pale Tussock, and it's in perfect health.  But it has this trick of playing dead when it seems to be in danger.  When I moved it to the marked paper, it exuded a drop of something unpleasant and lay out like this for about five minutes before getting up and carrying on as usual. 

We also had a smattering of tiny moths, a centimeter or less in length.

Parornix species, Phyllonorycter harrisella, Phyllonorycter quercifoliella.  Leaf miners.
West Wickham Common light trap set on 7 May 2014.

Their caterpillars live and grow inside tree leaves, between the top and bottom layers of the leaf, and the adults are sized in proportion.  You can hardly see any of this detail with the naked eye, but the macro lens brings out lots of variation, which is just as well or I'd never be able to identify them without a bit of dissection.  Even with these photos, I can only get some of them down to genus.

I'll finish with a shot that shows what this difference in sizes means in practice.

Ordinary and melanic forms of the Pale Tussock; two Light Brocades; one Phyllonorycter harrisella.
West Wickham Common light trap set on 7 May 2014.

For any sceptics: that melanic Pale Tussock is the same one as in the photo above, and this was taken after it "revived".