Do you remember the Paul Simon song
Cloudy? It's nostalgic for ageing hippies such as myself - and appropriate for last night's moths. Behold a Clouded Border, above, and and below, a Clouded Silver. The latter especially is a beautiful creature, with something of the Laura Ashley look which also reminds me like
Cloudy of distant summery days. This one has had a bit of a battering and gone a little bald on the back of its thorax, but the patterning remains exquisite including the traces of dots on the abdomen.
Summer this year is still in abeyance but it wasn't bad last night in terms of temperature, and the trap also had these arrivals, below. I've got to make an earlyish start today so will return to them later. I specially like the weevil/beetle and it's always a happy moment when the year's first May bug arrives and promptly falls flat on its back. I kindly righted this one.
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| A Clouded Drab, methinks (but wrongly; Dave Shenton corrects me in Comments for which many thanks as always. It's a Rustic Shoulder-knot. Sorry). |
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| I go for a Small Quaker (Update: but Martin Harvey in comments suggests Common Quaker and I think he is right) |
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| This looks like micro Agonopterix yeatiana but that's local so I'm not sure. (Rightly so, because it's Agonopterix arenella - see Comments again from Dave and Sam Millar, much appreciated. At least I got half the name right...) |
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| I think it's our friend the Red Twin-spot Carpet (Update: Martin Harvey suggests Common Carpet, not RT-s and again, I am sure he is correct). |
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| And is this a Yellow-barred Brindle? |
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| Um... (Update: but Banished suggests from the USA in Comments that it's a soldier beetle, which looks right. A redcap. Further Update: Martin Harvey identifies it as from the genus Cantharis, and quite likely Cantharis pellucida. Great thanks for expertise). |
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| Yes, we know what you are; but not your pal at the top |
I hugely appreciate the comments and corrections. Very many thanks to all four.
7 comments:
Your little red beastie looks like one of the soldier beetles, hard to be more specific though.
Your new garden certainly hasn't disappointed! Add in a Clouded Brindle, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Clouded Magpie and a Water Carpet and we might just have a British summer in a box!
The Agonopterix looks more like arenella to me, but we'll see what the pros say! :)
Another nice selection, your new garden list is really coming on.
A tree with Sam on arenella and for me your 'clouded drab' is Rustic Shoulder Knot.
Sorry for auto correct glitch above, should read "Agree"...
Thanks so much for these, all three. I will keep trying and I'm at least encouraged by getting quite close to the micro. But I despair over the Rustics, Drabs, Quakers and other frustratingly similar brownish creatures with kidney marks...
Much appreciated and warmest wishes - and good joke about the weather Sam, though it's holding the line around here at the moment, at least in terms of warmth
M
Just to add my thoughts, the quaker looks more like Common than Small to me (the orbicular and reniform marks seem too rounded for Small, and the cross-lines look good for Common); and the carpet isn't Red Twin-spot, think it must be Common Carpet (although seeing it at an angle makes it surprisingly difficult!).
The soldier beetle is one of the ones in genus Cantharis, quite likely Cantharis pellucida.
And welcome to Oxford! In my role as membership secretary for the local branch of Butterfly Conservation I look forward to welcoming you as a new member soon :-)
Hi Martin - great to hear from you. I am SO impressed by the Upper Thames website and all the friendly expertise. Thanks very much for that additional help. I have said over the years that my powers of identification would improve on retirement, but I am starting to have doubts. Still, at least the pictures are there.
Much appreciated and looking forward very much to more dealings
Martin
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