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.