The weather has turned very chilly and the trap is quiet as a result albeit with the colourful Sallow family, among them the Centre-barred example above, keeping things from getting too dull. I wrapped the base of the trap in a large and colourful Farmers' Market banner last night which looked touchingly like a thoughtful scarf but was actually an attempt to provide nooks and crannies for visitors reluctant to venture past the mercury vapour bulb.
This had no obvious effect; its only resident was a solitary Black Rustic. But inside the eggboxes, among a scattering of yellow underwings and Setaceous Hebrew Characters, I was pleased to find the tiny scrap of a micro shown above and below. This is the White-shouldered House Moth or Endrosis sarcitrella and it performs a useful scavenging function.
Its larvae munch on decayed animal and vegetable matter which is excellent, provided that you keep your larder clean and make sure your boxes of Corn Flakes are kept shut. In terms of keeping our garden shed tidy, there are no downsides and sarcitrella is a welcome guest.
2 comments:
Indeed, many "pests" are multifaceted. Agricultural problem insects can not only prevent strong competitors from dominating naturally-occurring ecosystems, but can even reduce "weed" populations in the garden if they are dealt with properly.
This is why I am so opposed to blind pesticide spraying, Bt corn, and even some forms of "natural" pest control (dunking every barely-a-pest insect detected into a bucket of soapy water, but ignoring the voracious fruit-eating birds)
Hi Alex
I very much agree with you - one man's pest is another man's ally, just as a weed is a flower in the wrong place. All v best M
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