It seems that our several months of almost incessant rain has finally come to an end, and spring is happening. Although I expect that some species will have suffered due to flooding (water vole burrows, soil-hibernating invertebrates...), some are starting to appear. So here's a quick non-technical introduction to a couple of garden-dwelling moths that have made themselves known to me recently.
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| A mature larva of the Old Lady moth Mormo maura. Note the bright orange spiracles along the side, and the black marks in the rear half. Approx 60mm long. |
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| Head of larva of Mormo maura - note the shiny, speckled head capsule with ocelli (simple eyes) and small antennae |
M. maura is a common species and I have previously seen adults in our garden, including one roosting in a shed. Ivy (Hedera helix) is one of its main food plants and we have plenty of that so it is not a surprise to see this species.
A couple of months ago, a series of storms destroyed many garden fences (not to mention causing widespread flooding) in the UK and while clearing up the debris, I found several pupae that had been dislodged. Most were put in our 'bug hotel' but a few were taken indoors to be hatched. One of these emerged a couple of days ago and proved to another common species, the Bright-line Brown-eye
Lacanobia oleracea. It feeds on a wide range of woody and herbaceous plants and again is no surprise, but did provide some photo opportunities prior to release.
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L. oleracea - the bright line is along the rear edge of the wings, the brown eye refers to the kidney-spots in this species.
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| Close-up of the wings showing the scale-patterns. |
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| Side view showing the hairy and tufted thorax. |
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| Portrait! |
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