Moth Report #9
The Bulrush Wainscot, the Cream-bordered Green Pea and the Large Tabby
Welcome to my new subscribers (indeed, to all my subscribers!). This introductory blurb (in italics) at the beginning will remain much the same from post to post; please skip it if you’ve read previous posts.
This newsletter will remain free, I’ve no intention of converting it to a paid subscription. It’s aimed at readers who have a general interest in nature and natural history, but maybe don’t know very much about moths. It’s not really aimed at people who regularly run their own moth traps, but of course they’re welcome to read it (even to criticise it if they wish!).
I run a light trap in my garden in Eastbourne (Sussex, UK) and the main objective of this newsletter is to post photos of some of the moths (and occasionally, other insects) that are attracted to the light, and to say a little about them. On average I run the trap about one night in three, and the plan is to write a post after each trapping night. In the morning I photograph any catches of special interest, then all moths and other insects caught in the trap are released (if they haven’t escaped already!).
This is my ninth year of running a garden moth trap, firstly three years in Eastbourne (2017-2019), then three in Hurstpierpoint (2020-2022), and then back in Eastbourne (2023 onwards). Hopefully, yet more house moves are off the cards for the foreseeable future!
Report for 9th July
The warm and muggy nights are back! I decided to have a few nights off, but the prospect of another sultry night, which the moths love, has decided me to get the trap out again. However, conditions are not quite as ideal as they were at the beginning of the month when we had the previous heat wave, because for the next few nights the moon is full, or near so, which provides competition for the moth light. For the night reported on here, the moon was at 98% with only a maximum of 33% cloud cover forecast. Actually, having said ‘sultry’, I note that the forecast humidity did not exceed 75%, so not as sultry as it could be.
So, it turned out to be an average night for July, with a very similar count to the previous trapping night, with 146 moths of 46 species, 10 of which were recorded for the first time this year, and two of which were new records for this Eastbourne garden.
Before going on to look at a few of the moths in more detail, following the previous night’s trapping (4th July, report here) I wrote a short addendum, using my iPad and the Substack app. Although it appeared briefly on the app as a post, it then disappeared and I haven’t been able to locate it anywhere on Substack. What it said was that on that night there were also a few wasps in the trap when I opened it in the morning, and indeed there were two more there thismorning. This is a bit of an occupational hazard in the later months of the year, but this year it seems to have started rather early (although I haven’t kept detailed records to confirm this). Fortunately I’ve so far managed to avoid getting stung! But the signs are that there are going to be a lot of wasps around this autumn; the warm dry weather has been good for them. Anyway, on to the first moth:
The Bulrush Wainscot, Nonagria typhae
According to the book, this is supposed to be a common species, but I’ve only seen it once before, in Hurstpierpoint, so as far as my records go this is the first Eastbourne record. The Sussex Moth Group website does confirm that it’s not actually very common in Sussex, with quite widespread but rather sparse records, and very few records around Eastbourne.
As its name (both the common and the Latin species name) implies, the caterpillar of this moth feeds mainly on the Common Bulrush, Typha latifolia (botantical purists might prefer to call it the Reedmace, but that’s another story). The caterpillars actually live inside the stems. The book says the moth can exploit even quite small patches of foodplant, and this year several flower spikes of bulrush/reedmace have appeared in my garden pond. I didn’t plant them, they just appeared on their own; I think the plant produces enormous quantities of very small seed which just blow about in the wind.
According to the book, the exit holes the moths make when they emerge from their pupae in the stems of the foodplant are quite obvious. I had a good look round but couldn’t find any, so maybe the moth I had in the trap was just scouting around looking for suitable breeding sites, rather than having emerged from this particular pond. If I get lots of these next year, I’ll know they’re living in my bulrushes!
Finally (for this moth) a note on the use of the word ‘wainscot’ in its name. Several of our moths use this term - Common Wainscot, Smoky Wainscot, etc., and they all have the same basic streaked pattern in off-white or grey, reminiscent of wood grain. Wood panelling in buildings, originally hardwoods like oak, but later cheaper woods like pine, was originally called wainscoting, and that’s where the name comes from. Most of the moths in this group feed on rushes, sedges or grasses, and the pattern provides good camouflage when they rest among the stems during the day.
The Cream-bordered Green Pea, Eareas clorana
This is another moth from last night which I’ve only seen once before, and that was only last month (just before I started this newsletter). I’ve known about the moth for a long time though - once you’ve read the name you’re unlikely to forget it! It’s another moth which is found in damp places - fens, marshes, etc - but I don’t think my pond would be the attraction this time becaus the moth feeds on willows and sallows, and I don’t have any of them round my pond. Well, actually I did have one, but I pulled it out because the pond isn’t large enough to support these trees.
When the field guide book I use was published 10 years ago or so, this moth was recorded as ‘Nationally Scarce B’, meaning uncommon, but not rare (technically, recorded from between 31 and 100 10km grid squares. However, it has now expanded its distribution and is regarded as common. Nonetheless, in Sussex it is mainly confined to coastal areas.
This is quite a small moth, technically a ‘macro’ but the size of a typical micro. Conversely, the last moth I selected for this report is technically a ‘micro’, while being the same size of many macro moths!
The Large Tabby, Aglossa pinguinalis
I’ve not seen this moth for several years - I recorded three when I lived in Eastbourne previously, but never saw it in Hurstpierpoint and not until now since I moved back to Eastbourne. It’s said to be declining, and is recorded from only 56 of the 1km grid squares in Sussex.
Apparently the moth can often be found in barns where hay is stored; hay is one of the caterpillars food sources, along with cereal refuse, animal feed and sheep dung. I’m some way from the nearest farm so it’s not clear where this one came from! The caterpillar, which lives inside a silken tube, is apparently very partial to fat and grease, which is implied in Latin specific name pinguinalis, derived from a word meaning fat (same root as for ‘penguin’ - a fat bird!). The common name ‘tabby’ refers to the similarity between the adult moth’s colouring and the fur of a tabby cat.
Well, that’s it for this instalment. The species count for the year now stands at 278, which exceeds the end of July count for the previous two years (but not for the five years prior to that).