Anne's Journal

Saturday June 25  Clearwing moths are day flyers which mimic wasps and hoverflies. The UK has 15 species, I've only seen five species, four of them in our garden. They are so small, and such good mimics, that they can easily be overlooked. With the growing availability of commercially produced pheromone lures,  the clearwings have become easier to see and more wide spread than previously thought. Females give off pheromone scents during the breeding season, males can pick these up from several miles away. The lure is in the form of an impregnated runbber bung, or liquid in a small phial. This is then placed in a small net bag, or in a plastc lure trap, hung from a branch. We use  a bird feeder hook. All the moths caught are therefore male.    Larger moths such as Hornet Clearwing and Emperor are too big for the traps so the lure needs to be on the ground. On sunny days this last week, we have successfully trapped Currant Clearwing    and six Red-tippe...

 Tuesday June 21 Summer Solstice. Pam posed an interesting question. Was last night or tonight the shortest night, if this is the longest day.  Caterpillar Update. Why, when they were all hatched on the same day, are the Emperor Moth caterpillars taking  differing times to mature and to pupate?  The remaining cats are enormous,    the first ones started pupating five days ago. Reading the internet informed me that they would pupate on their food plant. They haven't. They have decided to pupate onto the breeding cage,      one group forming a cluster in the corner.   Once they have all pupated, the cage will need cleaning of old feed, and  stored in a cool, dry, frost free place. Probably the old coal hole cupboard in the utility room. They should not hatch until next spring.