Tuesday 27 June 2017

Royal Mantle


Royal Mantle - a gorgeous moth and one that I haven't seen for over 10 years.
 
Trapped in the garden last night - macros (67 species) - Buff Arches, Common Emerald, Blood-vein, Small Fan-footed Wave, Small Dusty Wave, Single-dotted Wave, Riband Wave, Garden Carpet, Ruddy Carpet, Royal Mantle, Barred Straw, Common Marbled Carpet, Rivulet, Slender Pug, Haworth's Pug, Foxglove Pug, Lime-speck Pug, Common Pug, Grey Pug, V-Pug, Double-striped Pug, Small Yellow Wave, Brimstone, Scalloped Oak, Swallow-tailed Moth, Peppered Moth, Willow Beauty, Brussels Lace, Common Wave, Clouded Silver, Light Emerald, Poplar Hawkmoth, Elephant Hawkmoth, Buff-tip, Rosy Footman, Buff Footman, Common Footman, Buff Ermine, Heart and Club, Heart and Dart, The Flame, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, True Lover's Knot, Bright-line Brown-eye, Lychnis, Clay, Smoky Wainscot, L-album Wainscot, Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Poplar Grey, Sycamore, Small Angle Shades, Dun-bar, Dark Arches, Light Arches, Minor Agg, Uncertain, Mottled Rustic, Pale Mottled Willow, Marbled White Spot, Silver Y, Spectacle, Beautiful Hook-tip, Snout, Fan-foot and Small Fan-foot.
Micros included Coastal Pearl, Elder Pearl, Ox-Tongue Conch, Ruddy Streak, Barred Marble, Triangle-marked Roller, Hoary Bell, Garden Grass-veneer and Bee moth.


Heart and Club - a heavily marked and very striking individual.


Slender Pug - a bit thin on the ground this year - outnumbered by Haworth's Pug by quite some margin.


Dun-bar - my first this year.


 Shoulder-striped Wainscot - interesting to see next to L-album Wainscot (below).
 

 L-album Wainscot


True Lover's Knot - one of two trapped last night - a stunning species.


Common Cloaked Shoot - Gypsonoma dealbana - one of numerous bird-dropping mimics.


Rivulet


tortrix sp


Triangle-marked Roller - Ancylis achatana


Dragonfly sp - Woodbury Common - Edit - Keeled Skimmer (immature male) - many thanks Steve!


Small Purple-barred - small numbers of these on the wing this afternoon, up on Woodbury Common. Other moth species noted were Silver Y, Diamond-back Moth, July Belle, Heather Knot-horn, Grass Veneer, Common Marble, Narrow-winged Pug and, best of all, a Beautiful Yellow Underwing that wouldn't stay still long enough to have its photo taken.


Keeled Skimmer (adult male)

 
Keeled Skimmer (teneral (immature) female) - thanks again Steve!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the Royal Mantle today - great moth which I really enjoyed seeing.
    Agree with Gypsonoma dealbana, though could be G. sociana. Clifton and Wheeler (Bird-dropping tortrix moths of the BI) point to the frons - clear white in sociana, creamy/greyer in dealbana. Looks white in the photo, but it's not a head on shot and the black discocellular dash looks spot on to me for dealbana.

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    1. Thank you Nick - I felt it looked more cream. Picture of sociana on my 'micro' page which looks bright white (but could of course have got that wrong). Thanks, as always, for your help. Matt

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  2. Hi Matt, great moth photos as always. All your dragonflies are Keeled Skimmers - the common skimmer-type dragonfly on the East Devon heaths. In the males note the lack of black tip to the abdomen (ruling out Scarce Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer).

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    1. Thanks Steve - this blog has made me so lazy when it comes to identifying stuff. I fully intend to get the guide books but there are always more pressing things to spend money on! I'm assuming they look different because they're different sexes or is it an age thing? All the best. Matt

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    2. Both. You have almost the perfect series of photos. Notice how the upper pic shows an insect mid way between the middle pic and lower pic? It's a paler blue colour with straw colour remaining along side of upper abdomen and a few areas down the middle, plus it has duller eyes, well this is because it's an immature male. The middle pic shows a mature male and I reckon the lower photo is of a teneral (immature) female. They are almost as bad as gulls :-)

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  3. Ah great - thank you Steve - that explains it nicely. Cheers. Matt

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