Light trapping at CCW

I took three light traps to the community woodland on Monday evening. 

Here's my converted Robinson in action, it has a triple wavelength 6W LED and an actinic blue circular bulb, 22W. These run comfortably all night from a lithium battery pack (a lot lighter to carry than a car battery). (I'd forgotten my plastic bowls to cover the electrics, so the box had to do, no rain forecast.)

The other two traps are Heath traps, one running a blue LED from a car battery and the other a blue actinic. Unfortunately, the one running the actinic seems to have an issue when running via a car battery and an inverter. Not sure what the problem is, the set-up runs fine from the mains. So, just two traps functioned. Fortunately the trap that failed was the one near the car, not the one way up the hill that I'd lugged a car battery to.

Closing the traps at first light, not so early now.... but there were still moths flying around the traps. I don't trap so often at the community woodland so the Robins and Wrens haven't discovered light traps as a source of tasty treats.

A good search of the outside of the traps and the surrounds led to a few moths and caddis (Trichoptera) potted to examine later.

The failed trap, which had been working when I left it the previous evening, contained nothing, sadly.

However, the blue LED held quite a few including a very nice Merveille du Jour, always a treat to see.

Merveille du Jour Griposia aprilina

There were some Red-green Carpet, three in this trap and one in the Robinson.

Chloroclysta siterata

Next moths out of the trap were Rosy Rustic, three and one in the Robinson; Chestnut, one and three in the Robinson; a rather worn Frosted Orange; a total of five Pink-barred Sallow; a Green Carpet; a July Highflyer; and in the last egg tray two copper underwing sp. One of the copper underwings showed the field character of Copper Underwing Amphipyra pyramidea but the other was pretty washed out in the underwing, so retained, currently listed as Amphipyra sp.

Chestnut

Frosted Orange, a bit worn

Pink-barred Sallow

July Highflyer

A copper underwing, not sure if this is the identifiable one or not.

Lastly, a Green-brindled Crescent was lurking in the bottom of the trap.

Green-brindled Crescent, another smart autumn flying moth

 Along with the moths were various other interesting things.

Halseus radiatus, a caddis fly Tricoptera

This very interesting, tiny Hemiptera is of genus Kybos, a hopper, it requires dissection to get to species, but is probably Kybos ludus which is associated with birch Betula. There are just 4 records of K. ludus on NBN Scotland

A familiar, smelly beetle, Nicrophorus investigator, a carrion beetle

New for the woodland, and such a smart animal, Pantilus tunicatus, another Hemiptera, this time a mirid

The cranefly Pedicia occulta, there are only 29 records on NBN Scotland for this species, an excellent find

 Then to open the Robinson trap....

As well as some of the moths already mentioned, and including a second Merveille du Jour, there was an ear moth that will require dissection to determine species, Canary-shouldered Thorn, several Common Marbled carpet, Acleris laterana x2, Pinion-streaked Snout, Small Wainscot and Setaceous Hebrew Character. A big surprise was a Rush Veneer, a species usually considered to be a fairly scarce migrant in Scotland.

Acleris laterana

Canary-shouldered Thorn

An ear moth Amphipoea sp

Pinion-streaked Snout, quite a small moth for something that is classed as a "macro-moth"

Rush Veneer, a very uncommon moth in Mid-Perthshire

Setaceous Hebrew Character

 In addition there were other critters, not moths, that were attracted to the light of the Robinson trap.

Rhyacophila sp - a species of caddis fly, to be determined by dissection

Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator with passengers, phorid mites which hitch a lift on the beetle from one meal of dead things to the next!

Limnephilus lunatus, a rather attractive caddis

So at least another twelve species for the woodland species list, with a few more to be added after they have been specifically determined. 

Given suitable conditions, a warm evening with no heavy rain, but overcast ideally, it would be worth repeat trapping latter in the week or at the weekend. Unfortunately, it may be that the warm spell has passed. After torrential rain early this morning it has now turned clear and cold. 

 

Bang, crash!!

 

Many thanks to CP for the above

We were having a cuppa and there was a huge bang. Nothing shook, but it was like a not too distant explosion. There is a firing range not too far away, so that was a possibility. However, it was shortly confirmed that this was a close-by, but not very powerful, earthquake. The epicentre was by the appropriately named Shaky Bridge in Glen Lednock, very close by. The print out from the nearby Earthquake House shows the 'quake.

Many thanks to CP for the images.

Lots of IT issues of late... our dish through which we receive our internet (a local system, not via Mr Musk) died suddenly, and took a few days to fix as the local tech' was away (many thanks to SMcK for fixing it yesterday). Now Blogger is not loading images directly, I have to save them to Google Photos in order to upload them to the blog.... 

Whilst without t'internet for a few days we found a DVD player that worked and dug out some discs we had never watched. Actually, it was rather good watching films this way. Richard II from the Hollow Crown series is pretty phenomenal.

 Our other Bang, crash!! Is the work on our roof, scaffolding still here, banging, sawing and other sounds of re-construction continuing! 

I've set the light traps a couple of times, and they are also out tonight. Best from the 3rd September was a copper underwing. These are not the easiest things to ID without dissection, but I'm not keen to kill them unnecessarily. There is a lot of rubbish around about how to ID these. Even the usually reliable UK Moths re-iterates the labial palps colouring which is not a determining feature. The paper to look at is this "Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 134 (2022)", it's available online via Research Gate, (but posting the URL is causing Blogger issues...). (But the reference is here, at the bottom of the page - https://literateherringthisway.blogspot.com/search?q=copper+underwing I've demonstrated that the palps issue is no good via my own dissections, there's a not very good post in this blog previously.

Anyway, here's the latest one, including a palps image. It was a tad worn but my view would be that this is Copper Underwing Amphipyrea pyramidea, as always happy for other views to be expressed via "Comments".

 There were some interesting "intruders" from 3rd, including this large bark-louse, which was new for me.

 

Seriously rubbish image of Psococerastis gibbosa

From the 8th I captured two moths that were new for the garden and NFM, excellent. 

Lathronympha stigana, quite a small micro.

Oblique Carpet

Also in the traps...

Black Rustic

Frosted Orange
 

Not a lot of moths but quality.

Roe doe in next door's garden, just a few metres from our kitchen window.

 

The two Red Deer stags can also be seen regularly just over the fence in the Earthquake Field.

A wander in the woods produced a few of these which I'd looked for earlier in the year. Bird's Nest Orchid seems easier to find as seed heads.

Bird's Nest Orchid

A wander around the stubble fields outside of the village produced 

Eristalis arbustorum

Field Woundwort

Large-flowered Hemp-nettle

 

A field of yellow Smooth hawk's-beard Crepis capillaris.

 

 

Little Tombane

I was invited to this site and kindly guided around it by FM and AT, the owners. This is a site with a lot of interesting critters, and in sorting out my photos and specimens I learned about a Family of insects I had never come across before, solved a puzzle of a week or so and learned of an identification and taxonomic confusion.

As usual I forgot to take a general site shot... 

 However, FM did take some of us "in action".

Self (right) and AT (photo FM).

The site is in Mid-Perthshire and is a mixture of ancient woodland, mostly birch Betula, improved grassland that is returning to more natural grassland and some unimproved grassland. This was more a photographic reconnaissance rather than a specimen hunting trip, although I did assault on unsuspecting birch for the beating tray.

First off and in the roadside verge, where there was lots of Rock Rose, I was directed to these...

 

This tiny "Polo Mint" is the empty egg of Northern Brown Argus, a butterfly that I may or may not have seen as an imago a long time ago.

 I will return in the flight season and attempt to see an adult, however, in the meantime that's a fairly unusual way to tick a butterfly on the P-SL. (One of the species that I have, or may have seen in the past but have no notes or images, so not previously on my P-SL. It is now!)

The next thing of interest was this knotgrass.

Knotgrass was on my PS-L but a bit of an ignorant tick as I would not have been aware of the complexities of Polygonum identification either when I saw it or when I ticked it. However, this photo seems to be good enough to confirm Polygonum aviculare s.s. As I learn more about botany I realise how tricky it is, on the whole, a lot more tricky than Coleoptera, for example.

We wandered up the hill and found a lot more of this going on in the birch.

I'd been seeing this at the CCW for the last 10 days or so and to this point research had failed to reveal the cause. 

I'd even taken some and put it in my rearing tent. The reason the cause was not coming up in my usual leafminer resources was because this is not caused by a moth or a fly but by a beetle. Birch Leaf Roller Deporaus betulae, a weevil. It would be nice to find an adult. Mystery solved!

As we walked through the trees a small blue-bottle-like  fly was at eye height. I took a few, not very good, images.

 

 Eudsyphora cyanicolor, the lower image is pretty rubbish, but fortunate as it shows the medial pale stripe on the mesonotum which is required for ID.

Also found was a blister mine on alder which turned out to be Heterarthrus vagans. There were a good number of mines on a young, planted alder. 

Heterarthrus vagans 

 

 AT has been instructing me on the subtleties of birch identification. I've seen a number of trees which are undoubtedly hybrids of the two = Betula x aurata, indeed perhaps all that I've seen are hybrids to some extent. So are any of these P-SL tickable? The problem probably lies more with B. pubescens and pendula, and in the end I think seeing the best examples of each is acceptable. Some may disagree, and suggest only Betula x aurata is tickable without some lab' work. However, I think most P-SLers have ticked these two species. It's worth reading Jon Stokes (WildGuides Trees) on this. Anyway, Deporaus betulae and Betulapion simile don't care, they just eat the tree, as long it is Betula.

Betulapion simile, a very tiny weevil, 2mm, very common on Betula. I beat quite a few out of a single birch. Note the "eye-beard" and the colour of the antennae. 

Also beaten out of the birch was this which puzzled me greatly. 

Also tiny, 2mm.

 

At first I thought it was a scale insect, and then a mite, but it is actually the larva of Coniopterygidae a family within Neuroptera (lacewings) called dustywings or wax flies. (Thanks DB). I'd not come across these before. Only adult males appear to be identifiable, there's a key here - https://www.laars.jamesjepson.com/british-isles-coniopterygidae-wax-flies-identification/

Best from the birch thrashing was this sawfly, I really like sawflies, although they can be hard to ID. This is Tenthredo ferruginea, I've not yet asked the experts, but research leads me to think this is an ok ID. 

Tenthredo ferruginea

 And just prior to this the sun came out, and many butterflies and hoverflies appeared.

Comma

Always a treat to see. There were also Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White and Speckled Wood.

 

The best hover was tricky to photograph as it would not stay still for long, so this is a significant crop.

 

Chrysotoxum arcuatum
 

 I've seen relatively few of those in the past. A bit easier to photograph were the many Eristalis pertinax.

 

Eristalis pertinax

 And Episyrphus balteatus.

 

 Most of these insects were nectaring at Calluna vulgaris, Cirsium arvense or Cirsium palustre.

 

In amongst these were quite a few Ichneumonidae, which I didn't really bother with as I'd have needed to take specimens, and a few common Heteroptera. 

 

I do find it hard to remember all the names of species, AI does really help, not just providing initial identifications, or giving ideas as to what things might be, but as a memory jogger for those of us whose old memories have scrambled ROM and RAM, too much clutter in the workings.

 

Likely consulting the AI to remind me of a name - Salix repens in this case I think. (Photo FM). Note the beating tray (old white umbrella) and stick (the handle of my dad's mallet, probably getting on for 100).

  

Stenodema laevigata, a bit of an old, washed out one.

 

Nabis rugosa

 Other than the weevils just two beetles were found a Red-breasted Carrion Beetle nectaring at thistle and Lochmaea caprea on Salix. 

 

Oiceoptoma thoracicum

 

Lochmeae caprea

 

There were quite a few moths. Plenty of worn Agriphila tristella and Udea lutealis, a Common Carpet, two Common White Wave caterpillars, Silver Y and a few unidentified Geometrids that flitted off into the distance.

 

Common White Wave caterpillar, beaten from birch.
 

The final actions were back down the hill by the track, a further search for more eggs of Northern Brown Argus and a go at photographing the Colletes bee colony.

 

I found about 15 more eggs of the butterfly, but no caterpillars, they had probably gone to ground for the winter.  

 

The bees proved to be Colletes succinctus and there was a spider-hunting Hymenopteran working its way through the colony, probably Arachnospila sp (thanks AR). I also photographed a couple of large ants. In the end I got these to be Formica and either fulva or lemani. It was supposed that F. lemani was the commoner and more widespread of the two, but I was informed that the identification and distribution of these is currently being reviewed (thanks JS). Apparently F. lemani may be the less common one and F. fulva the more common. Whether this was a naming, taxonomic or identification mix-up may be revealed with the review.

 

Arachnospila sp

 

Colletes succinctus

 

Formica fulva or lemani?
 

It is possible there was another bee species around the colony, but I just could not get any photos, something for another day. Indeed there is plenty more to look for at this very interesting site, a return with a light trap would be an interesting excursion. Many thanks to FM and AT for their invite and hospitality.