In search of the Orange Underwing Moth
It looked like a nice morning for a walk today, the winds were light, the sun was shining and I’d heard that there were some Orange Underwing moths (Archiearis parthenias) around at a local nature reserve. Apparently they can be seen flying around birch tress in the sunshine during March.
I had a good look, but didn’t find any. I did see a couple of lizards on my travels and another moth species. In fact I saw the male and female of this in an ‘amorous embrace’. I’ve yet to identify this species but I’m working on it.
It was a nice walk around the boardwalk though without anyone else around and a good excuse to take some photos. Click on them to enlarge them.
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- Caterpillar
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- Moth on Heather
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- Moth
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- Amorous Couple – Dasystoma salicella
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- Cors Fochno
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- Canada Geese
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The moths are Dasystoma sacicella or Blueberry Leafrollers.
“Widespread, but local and scarce, in England and Wales. Very scarce in Scotland and Ireland. Males fly around noon on sunny April days to find the flightless females . ”
Al.
And the guy who helped identify it for me has just sent me a message saying:
“Is there any chance you could send me the pic of the mating pair of Dasystoma salicella its a fantastic pic and its the best photo I`ve seen on the net and I`d like to use it for my own personal reference.”
Excellent, that makes me feel good. 🙂
Al.