The moths of Torry Bay LNR



Crescent Striped

Bird enthusiasts will know that twitchers travel to distant extremities of their home country in order to see unusual birds. The most extreme example that I know is St Lawrence Island, a small island that politically is part of Alaska but geographically is just 32 miles from the coast of Siberia. Thus, American twitchers (they call themselves listers) go to there to put Eurasian birds on their American bird list. Perhaps we have a St Lawrence Island equivalent in vc87 where we can go to see moths not otherwise recorded in the vice county. The boundaries of many vice counties are strangely erratic and the eastern boundary of vc87 appears at first sight to stop at Kincardine Bridge but in fact it extends in a narrow finger along the coast of Fife to include Torry Bay. Here then is a stretch of esturine coast that might be expected to have a moth assemblage similar to coastal Fife and Lothians. So, a list forwarded to me by Duncan Davidson of moths caught by Stephanie Little (then Stephanie Smith) in Torry Burn LNR during 1999 and 2000 was always going to be exciting. Indeed, it proved to include records of White-line Dart, Heart and Club, Lunar Underwing, Large Wainscot and Silky Wainscot; all species seldom or never previously recorded in vc87. Also on the list were two most unexpected species: Crescent-striped a salt-marsh species for which there are no recent records north of Lincolnshire and Annulet which again has no recent records from nearby coasts. Stephanie had sent all key species to Keith Bland for identification. He had examined the genitalia of all that he received and the specimens are stored at the National Museums of Scotland Collections Centre at Granton.  Furthermore, Duncan Davidson has recently visited Granton and has photographed some of the above specimens. His photographs will be placed in the Scottishmoths vc87 validation file. In addition, his photograph of the Crescent-striped is included with this blog. The moth is clearly rather worn and, without Keith Bland’s examination of the genitalia, it would be hard to be sure that it is not a Dusky Brocade. However, the forewings are rather square with very straight costa, the markings are poorly contrasted and show some suspicions of a partial white edging around the kidney spot and elements of a dark bar joining the central cross-lines. These are all characteristic features of Crescent-striped. Unfortunately, the Annulet specimen could not be found for Duncan’s visit but he informs me that E.C. Pelham-Clinton recorded it 1966 at nearby North Queensferry.

4th November – Blair’s Shoulder-knot

Blair’s Shoulder-knot first arrived in the UK (on the Isle of Wight) in 1951. It found that its preferred larval foodplants, Lawson’s and Leyland Cypress, are common garden trees in the UK and it spread rapidly. By 1996 it had reached Cumbria and by 2001 had crossed the border into Kirkcudbrightshire. Since then, it has spread to Ayrshire, the Borders, Lothians and into Fife as far north as Anstruther so it was not unexpected when one found its way into my trap in Milgavie on 4^th November. I hasten to add that I would not allow C. leylandii in my garden and, if Blair’s Shoulder-knot causes grievous harm to those in my neighbour’s garden, I shall be delighted. Unfortunately, said trees are growing much faster than even a plague of caterpillars could keep up with.

Summer 2011 – Spindle Ermine

In central Scotland we regularly see Bird Cherry trees defoliated by the larvae of Bird Cherry Ermine (Yponomeuta evonymella). We do not however usually see Spindle Ermine (Yponomeuta cagnagella) because Spindle (Euonymus europaeus), its main foodplant, is a plant of calcareous soils, especially the chalky soils of southern England. Nevertheless, related species of Euonymus are less calcium dependent and are grown in gardens and one of these, Japanese Spindle (E. japonicus), is grown as a hedge and can be an alternative foodplant for Spindle Ermine. It was from a totally defoliated hedge of this shrub growing around the car park of Wickes Home Improvement Store in Stirling that on 21st May Hugh Clayden recovered pupae and larvae and sent them to the author. They hatched into Spindle Ermine a new species for Stirlingshire.  

29th September - Brindled Ochre

A freshly emerged male was caught in a trap at Mugdock Country Park.

13th September - Dusky-lemon sallow

A lovely specimen was caught by David Bryant in his garden at Bridge of Allan which he tells me is full of its foodplant – Wych Elm.

10th September - Butterbur

Martin Culshaw had one come to house lights in Killearn. His house is not far from patches of the foodplant on the banks of the Endrick Water where I have run traps specifically aimed at the species but with no success. Time to look again.

10th June - Narrow-bordered Bee hawkmoth

An individual seen by Scott Shanks in a flower-rich meadow near Rosneath Point on the shores of the Firth of Clyde was the first record for the region since 1985.

Early September - Convolulus Hawkmoth

Norman Brodie had a very large visitor to his house in Dullatur that was identified after its death when his daughter, Barbara, circulated a photograph

2nd August - Silky Wainscot

A single specimen in the collection of Iain Christie, labelled 5^th July 1985, Garlea, Dunbartonshire, was until this year the only record for the region. However, Bob Dawson recorded no less than four at Polmaise Lagoons, Stirlingshire on the 2^nd August

26th and 31st July - Dark Spinach

Helen Dawson caught yet another in her garden in Fallin, Stirlingshire on 26^th July and Martin Culshaw recorded one in Killearn on 31^st.

15th June - Cinnabar

A significant proportion of records of Cinnabar in the region appear to be wanderers. An adult that arrived in my trap in Milngavie on 15^th June was 14km from the nearest previous record and no larvae have been found on ragwort in the area. 

8th August 2007 and 13th August 2011 - Garden Dart

Garden Dart is a species that has become far less common throughout the UK. There were no known records from vice counties 86, 87 and 99 since 1996 until Stan Campbell re-examined some of his photographs. With the help of Roy Leverton, He discovered that a moth photographed in Renton, Dunbartonshire on 8^th August, 2007 was a Garden Dart. This year there has been a record from the other end of the region.  Bob and Helen Dawson caught one in their garden in Fallin, Stirlingshire on 13^th August.

15th August – Rosy Minor

Back on the banks of the River Leven, Stan Campbell did not succeed in finding any more Bordered Pug but did find a Rosy Minor; another first for vc99.

14th August – Bordered Pug

A Bordered Pug caught by Stan Campbell on the banks of the River Leven is a first ever for record vc99 and the first for the region since 1995.

July and August – Buff Footman

Perhaps the moth find of the year for Stirlingshire and West Perthshire is the Buff Footman. I was lucky enough to find the first at Lennoxtown on the 11^th July, another was caught by David Bryant at Bridge of Allan on 11^th August and I identified a third in the catch for the 2^nd August of the Rothamsted trap at Rowardennan on Loch Lomondside.  Thus the species is now recorded in vc86 and 87.

Central Scotland is accumulating an impressive list of species that have moved into the region in the 21^st century. They include in rough order of appearance Pale Prominent (actually first recorded in  1995), Red-necked Footman, Slender Brindle, Ypsolopha sequella, Alder Moth, Copper Underwing, Oak-tree Pug, Pale Pinion, Lesser Treble-bar and now Buff Footman. The spread of Red-necked Footman, Slender Brindle and Pale Pinion was dramatic but that of Buff footman appears to be even more impressive. The map for the species in The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland vol 9 (Harley Books) shows that in 1978 the species had a patchy distribution mainly south of a line from the Severn to the Wash. However, The Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths, produced in response to the National Moth Recording Scheme (Hill et al , 2010. Butterfly Conservation), shows considerable northward expansion. Steve Palmer (pers. comm.) informs me that the first authenticated record in Lancashire came in 2000 and that it is now recorded in good numbers throughout the county particularly in the north. The Tullie House Museum, that currently holds the Cumbria moth database, has records from across the county dating from 1999 and the first record in Scotland would appear to be from Forest Moor, Wigtownshire (vc74) in 2006 (Dumfries and Galloway Moths website). In 2008, the species had spread to vc73, Kirkcudbrightshire, where it is now recorded at multiple sites and, in some, is so well established that there have been single trap counts of up to15 (G. Chambers, pers. comm.). Oddly, there appear to be no known records from Dumfriesshire (vc72) but from near Kelso in adjacent vc80 it has been recorded annually since 2009. In addition, there is a single 2009 record from Ayrshire (N. Gregory, pers. comm.). Thus, it appears that the species is spreading rapidly in southern Scotland and has now reached the central belt.

With all of the species moving north, is tempting to see their movement north as a response to climate warming or, in the case of Red-necked and Buff Footman, to the cleaner air that supports lichen growth. However, Roy Leverton has pointed out that the factors supporting northward range extension must be more complicated because, both Dingy and Scarce Footman both occurred further north than Buff Footman in 1978 but they have not spread to central Scotland.

27th July Thyme Pug

One of the outstanding discoveries of the late Iain Christie in 1981 and 1982 was an inland colony of Thyme Pug on Conic Hill near Balmaha at the south eastern corner of Loch Lomond. I have made several attempts to rediscover this colony and have covered a lot of ground on Conic Hill without finding much Thyme let alone Thyme Pug (although I did find Bog Orchid). Earlier this year however I discovered that the label "Conic Hill" on Iain's specimens might be a little misleading as I found a lot of Thyme not on the main body of the hill but on a ridge to the NW labelled  Druim nam Buraich on the OS Explorer Map. On the 27th July in two hours on this ridge tapping thyme plants over a lunch box I recovered two small caterpillars which at the time I was uncertain about but which matured into Thyme Pug larvae. Hopefully adults will emerge in 2012.

29/30th July Lesser Treble-bar

Over the years a number of claims for Lesser Treble-bar in the region have not been presented with the evidence necessary to add a new species to a vice county list. This all changed on 29^th and 30^th July when Bob and Helen Dawson found a colony associated with extensive St John’s Wort on Fallin bing near Stirling

20th July – Grass Emerald

Arthur and Jane Jones recorded a Grass Emerald in Jubilee Pine Woods in the Trossachs.

White-pinion Spotted - not in our patch but not far away

Pat Thompson found a White-pinion Spotted in East Kilbride in May. This is not quite in our patch. However, it could be yet another species moving north so we should all be alert to the possibility.

6th May – Bilberry Pug

The Bilberry Pug is apparently a rare moth in Scotland. The Provisional Atlas shows only two dots; one in Dumfriesshire and the other in vc86 in the oak woods of east Loch Lomondside where about 50 a year are caught in the Rothamsted trap at Rowardennan. I believe that the species may be over-looked elsewhere and that this may in part be because some illustrations, particularly that in Waring et al are misleadingly green. One of the illustrations shows dead individuals from the Rothamsted trap. They are invariably the buff colour shown. I have never detected any green in any individual caught by this trap. It is possible that the killing fluid used in Rothamsted traps causes discolouration although it does not do so with emeralds. This year I have bred the species and my second slide shows an individual that emerged on 6^th May. It shows a delicate green background colouration but is nowhere near as green as is illustrated in Waring et al. To judge from this one individual, the photographs in Skinner and in Riley and Prior are much more accurate.

3rd May, !4th August and 1st September - Marsh Pug

In central Scotland the day-flying Marsh Pug is an enigmatic species. Its preferred foodplant, Field Mouse-ear is rare or absent from vice counties 86,87 and 99. Nevertheless, there are records from the region and these are mainly centred around the damp meadows south of Loch Lomond particularly those near the mouth of the Endrick Water. There have been no records since1983 until on the third of June, on a very muggy night, Martin Culshaw caught one coming to light at his house which is near the junction of Blane Water and Endrick Water (the species only comes to light on very muggy nights).

Furthermore, on the 14^th August he found another on his garden fence proving that the species can be double-brooded in the area. I have searched the fields around Martin’s house. Common Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum) is abundant and a couple of plants of Sticky Mouse-ear (Cerastium glomeratum) were found but there was no Field Mouse-ear. These were the first records for vice county 86 although, as indicated above, most of the records from vc99 are also from the environs of the Endrick Water.

On 1^st September, Neil Gregory caught one in a totally new area of vc99, namely Carman Muir.

2011 - Also a good year for Birch Mocha

Birch Mocha is another species for which most records come from the woodlands around Loch Lomondside and the Trossachs. This year however, this species has occurred in other areas and one found on Wester Moss near Stirling was much further east than the species has previously been recorded within the region.

2011 - A good year for Great Prominent

More records for Great Prominent have been received this year than would normally be expected. Most records for Great Prominent normally come from the oak woods of Loch Lomondside and the Trossachs. The species is however also known to occur where oaks are more scattered as in hedgerows and gardens and this year several records have come from this sort of habitat.

Uncertain - an adjustment to records in the database

There has been a great deal of discussion, particularly on the Scottishmoths forum, concerning the separation of Uncertain from Rustic. This is an old problem; indeed the vernacular name “Uncertain” reflects the long-standing nature of the difficulty. It appears that of the two species in Scotland may be even more difficult. Furthermore, their separation by examination of their genitalia is unreliable because differences are so subtle
that they are subjective. The conclusion from the discussion appears to be that strong cross-lines are a good indicator for Uncertain but the most reliable feature for their separation is the colour of the hind wings. Uncertain has nearly uniform brown hind wings while those of Rustic are silvery with a greyish brown outer margin.

I have reviewed the seven records in my data-base (three for vc86, one for vc87 and three for vc99). I have decided that six of these, including two of my own, were not accompanied by photographs or specimens and cannot therefore be validated with sufficient rigour. I have therefore moved these six out of the vice county data-bases into a "to be confirmed" file. The photograph of the remaining record has been circulated and despite not showing the hind wing is considered by Jon Clifton and Roy Lewington to be typical of Uncertain. It is reproduced above.

All future claims for this species must be accompanied by specimens or by photographs that include pictures showing the hind wing.

Dark Spinach 21 July,2010

At the time of publication, only seven records of Dark Spinach were known from the region covered and all were from Stirlingshire (vc86). Recently however Theresa Dockery sent me a picture of one caught on 21st July 2010 at Duntocher thus putting the species on the Dunbartonshire (vc99) list.

December 2010 - Golden Twin-spot

Helen Dawson struck again in December when a Golden Twin-spot emerged from a pupa that she found in orchids at Dobbies Garden Centre, Stirling. The species is a rare migrant largely to southern England but it also arrives in the UK as an import in potted plants. Presumably it is as a result of such imports that the species is said to be breeding in one of the biomes in the Eden Project in Cornwall. The orchids in which Helen found the pupa probably came from a nursery in Netherlands so one wonders if this nursery also has a breeding population.

July 2010 - Confused

Like Pale Pinion, Confused was a species that I included in an appendix of my checklist that listed species that had not been recorded in the three vice counties but which might be expected. Photographs taken of a capture made by Helen Dawson at Fallin , near Stirling have recently been critically examined and are undoubtedly the first acceptable record for the area.

Aug 2010 to April 2011 - Pale Pinion

The Pale Pinion is moving north and, in my checklist I revealed how it had been found in several vice counties of central Scotland but not in vice counties 86, 87 and 99. However, in August and September 2010, Stan Campbell  proved that it has arrived in Dunbartonshire (vc99) when he sent me photographs of two that he found nectering in the Renton area. Moving into 2011, I added it to the Stirlingshire (vc86) list when I caught one in a trap at Mugdock Country Park on 10th April and another in Lennoxtown on 18th April. Note that the species emerges in the autumn, hibernates as an adult and re-emerges in the spring.