Yesterday, while walking up the garden path I disturbed a Green Carpet moth and it wasn’t until I considered doing a post on this sighting that I wondered if it would be correct to call it a day-flying moth.

It’s certainly a species that is regularly seen flying in the daytime, albeit when it has been disturbed, but it is also attracted to light at night and seems most active at dusk. A new book on day-flying moths is in the process of being completed and it will be interesting to see what criterion is used in the species selection process.

Insight into Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria): it has a wingspan of approximately 14mm and is common throughout most of the UK inhabiting a wide range of habitats where the bedstraw larval plant is found.

Insight into Heather Ladybird (Chilocorus bipustulatus): can appear to be all black because of its small size. However, upon closer inspection it shows 2 to 6 red spots spread in a lone across its back.

It’s between 3-4mm in length and found locally in England and Wales but declining. It’s main host plant is heather and, although most commonly found on heathland, it is also associated with some deciduous trees and conifer scrub. It overwinters amongst leaf debris and in tree bark crevices.

Many bird species have suffered from one of the wettest and coldest Aprils on record with failed nests widespread. Most species appear to have suffered and even water birds have seen nests waterlogged.

Moorhens are considered to be one of the most successful breeding species in the country and take special care with their clutches of eggs, ensuring they are well covered and incubation temperatures are maintained.

However, its not just the inclement weather that the Moorhens on this brackish pool have to contend with as the large numbers of predatory rats and gulls present will make short work of any egg or chick left unguarded.

This Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) is certainly on the lookout for a meal.

Last Saturday night I over optimistically set a 60Watt actinic light hoping the cloud cover would mask the moon. Fat chance. The clouds broke and a Perigee Moon revealed itself!

This ‘supermoon’ appears when the moon is at a point of its cycle where it is nearest to the Earth and consequently appears both larger and brighter than normal. The result: my lowest May moth catch ever! Eight miserable moths of five miserable species!

The Thick-legged Flower Beetle is approximately 9mm in length and found throughout most of the southern half of the UK between April and August. It is found in open habitat feeding on the pollen of a wide range of flowering plants.

Apparently they are inseparable and healthy but a bit confused. It’s probably just as well they were sexed when young as there would be more than a bit of head scratching going on now as to why they’ve never produced an egg.

Many thanks to Claire for the information and the great work she and the many volunteers are doing to help re-establish this iconic Cornish bird.

Insight into St Mark’s Fly (Bibio marci): the image on the left shows the differences between the male and female flies. The male on the left has a large head with large eyes and clear wings whilst the female on the right is slightly larger and has a small head and smoky wings.

The females lay their eggs in the soil and die soon after. The larvae grow all through the autumn and winter, emerging as adult flies around St Mark’s Day, 25 April, the following spring.

Adults only live for about two weeks so the St Mark’s Fly spends most of its life in the larval stage.

These are the earliest fritillary butterfly species to fly in the UK with those seen in April likely to be Pearl-bordered as the Small Pearl-bordered’s first brood is slightly later.

Identification features

The most obvious difference is between their undersides with the Pearl-bordered having less white blocks and an overall more orangey wash. If seen in strong sunlight the underside of the Small Pearl-bordered is sometimes likened to a stained glass window with intense black veining outlining silvery/white blocks giving it a far brighter appearance.

Once you’ve become familiar with both butterflies the difference becomes obvious. However, be aware that on worn specimens with variable strength of colour and in changing light conditions it is not always a case of instant recognition.

Can the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries be identified from just the upperside of their wings?
Yes, normally, but it can be tricky in the field.
The most reliable identification indicator is that the small black spots in the forewing of the Pearl-bordered are more distant from the chevrons on the outer wing edge than those of the Small Pearl-bordered. However, this is not always easy to assess in the field.

Another id feature is that towards the outer edge of the forewing of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary the black chevrons are often unconnected from those black marks on the outer edge.

However, this is not always the case. When we lived in the Marsland Valley, one of the country’s top sites for both species, we often recorded Pearl-bordered Fritillaries with chevrons linked to the trailing black marks (see image on the left) as in the Small Pearl-bordered.

Where possible photographs should be obtained of questionable specimens which can then be studied on a computer in order to confirm the identification.

Having photographed it and done some research I decided it had to be Sombre Brocade (Dryobotodes tenebrosa), a moth not previously recorded in Cornwall and first recorded in mainland UK in 2008 in Dorset where a small population has now established itself.

However, having discussed its appearance with a national expert, who suggested there was the possibility that it wasn’t a single migrant moth and that there may be an undiscovered breeding population here in Falmouth, it was decided I wouldn’t report the record immediately.

Further trapping with a light was limited later last year due to bad weather and, despite not recording any more Sombre Brocades, I still feel there is a real chance that this species is breeding locally because of the local abundance of the larval foodplant, Holm Oak.

Having recorded several Portland Ribbon Waves (Idaea degeneraria) last summer in Falmouth, which strongly indicate the only breeding site of this moth in the country other than on Portland Bill, results of this year’s moth recording will be particularly interesting.

Thanks go to Mark Tunmore, editor of Atropos, an excellent magazine for those interested in moths, butterflies and dragonflies, who provided more information on the distribution of this species.

This cushion of Spring Sandwort is undeniably beautiful with its flowers of 5 white petals on short stalks with pretty pink stamens. The flowers aren’t large but they stand out on the rocky outcrops. It looks such a tough environment for something so delicate.

Insight into Spring Sandwort (latin name Minuartia verna): a native wild flower found on carboniferous limestone in the north of England and in other scattered locations. Like many other plants it is found on the Lizard because of the serpentine rock in this area.

It likes open rocky habitats and is found on scree as well as spoil heaps of leadworks giving rise to its other name of Leadwort.

It flowers from May to September.