NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

The garden MV is at its busiest during July, with high numbers of 'micro-moths' to keep me busy and push me along that steep learning curve. There is no getting away from it, micros can be difficult, and many are not identifiable unless you resort to genitalia determination, something that I am not prepared to get involved with, not on any moral grounds, just out of sheer laziness on my part. There are other species that vary in colour and patterning, so that two of the same, side by side, look anything but. The two images below are of Eudemis profundana , a common tortrix, and as you can see, are different from each other. I have other images of this species which differ further still, but will not overload you with them here. Where can you go for help? Apart from the printed moth guides - in particular ' British Moths ' by Chris Manley (third edition), I am increasingly using a few of the excellent on-line resources. One stands out from the rest, and that is the excel...

The garden MV is producing a half-decent catch each night, although that anticipated 'macro' highlight is missing so far. Fortunately there are plenty of micros to wade through, and a few of the more visual are shown below. If I've mis-identified any then please let me know! Some of these are so small that it is a struggle to make out their markings and colour - sometimes it isn't until I look at them through a magnifying glass - or macro lens - that I can really appreciate them. Pammene fasciana Argyresthia pruniella Caloptia alchimiella Coleophora deauratella - possibly... Notocelia rosaecolana

A foolhardy tweet or a timely kick up the backside? As any regular visitor to this blog will testify, I’ve announced that I’m going to take on the micro-moths several times and fallen spectacularly short. I’ve dabbled, but cannot seriously claim to have put any effort in. But now I mean business (at least until 19.00hrs this evening...) My suggestion of buying a new net was quickly followed up by ordering two books - Ben Smart’s ‘Micro Moth Field Tips’ and Langmaid, Palmer and Young’s ‘A Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of GB and Ireland’. Together with my existent library of the Harley Books ‘Moths and Butterflies Handbook’; The Surrey Wildlife Trust’s ‘The Smaller Moths of Surrey’; Manley’s second edition, Sterling, Parsons and Lewington’s ‘Field Guide to the Micro moths’ plus various other papers (and a DVD of the Ray Society’s Tortrix publication) I reckon I should be prepared to, at the very least, give it a good go. I’m already gearing up to a year of bush bashing, leaf ...

I've been taking a look at the micro moths that have been coming to the MV. Regular visitors to this site may recall that I blow hot-and-cold with these smaller moths (but then again I'm sure that you've got more important things to remember than whether or not I fondle little lepidoptera). I have added another three species to the garden list, all shown below. I won't bore you with the other photographs that are housed in a folder called 'Mystery'. When I have time, most probably in deepest December, I may revisit them... Acleris forsskaleana Acleris logiana Ypononeuta evonymella

Anyone with an interest in moths will have noticed that the past couple of nights have been overcast, calm and mild - conditions that, even in the depths of winter, promise moths. Those trap-fulls during the summer may be a bit of a winter's dream, but I would still expect a few moths on such nights as these. January 2nd provided a Light Brown Apple Moth and two tortrixes that were so plain that any attempt on my part to identify them was just a non-starter. Last night I trapped just the one, but it was a new species for me - Acleris schalleriana (left). This is a common enough micro which has so far eluded my detection (mainly due to my lax recording of non-macro moths). My efforts during 2012 to do a bit better in this department need to step up a gear this year. As always, if any of the more knowledgable visitors to this blog disagree with any of my micro identification (or can suggest critical congeners that I may have overlooked), then do please let me know. The mild wea...

Two new publications that have just been added to the North Downs and beyond library were not only eagerly anticipated but will both, without doubt, aid identification of their species greatly. Collins Fungi Guide and British Wildlife's Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland are going to encourage an awful lot more naturalists to take on these 'difficult' groups. Both tackle a vast fauna that have identification challenges within them. Neither publications claim to be the definitive word, and in the case of the micro book clearly state the need to leave certain families of moths alone unless you want to use a microscope and have a penchant for examining their nether regions. The illustrations in both are superb, the layouts well designed and a joy to browse through. I haven't used either in anger yet, but with the teams behind them they cannot be anything other than 'must have' books.