Welcome

Welcome to my blog

This is where I post various musings about wildlife and ecology, observations of interesting species (often invertebrates)
and bits of research that grab my attention. As well as blogging, I undertake professional ecological & wildlife surveys
covering invertebrates, plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and some mammals, plus habitat assessment and management
advice. I don't work on planning applications/for developers. The pages on the right will tell you more about my work,
main interests and key projects, and you can follow my academic work here.

Friday, 28 March 2014

After the wet (part 2)

Having recently raised a Bright-line Brown-eye moth Lacanobia oleracea from a pupa rescued from our storm-damaged fence panels, this morning I awoke to find another new arrival in the hatchery, a Brimstone moth Opisthograptis luteolata - not to be confused with the Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni.

Brimstone moth Opisthograptis luteolata.
This species feeds on a range of shrubs and small trees - although none of its more common host plants grow in our garden, there are plenty nearby and the overlapping fence-panels must have provided effective overwintering shelter until it blew down. Adults are usually found from April to October so this one was only a few days early.
Portrait of the Brimstone moth Opisthograptis luteolata.
Empty cocoon and pupal case of Opisthograptis luteolata.The pupa was inside the cocoon which is usually a rounded elliptical/oval shape - here it is squared off and has flat sides due to being formed between flat fence panels.
Posted by davesbrain
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)