It's all rather bizarre. There are plenty of records of Adela cuprella from Glamorgan, eg a recent blog post by Paul Parsons. Why weren't there any records from Carms in the database?! I suspect I have missed them as the slightly later-flying A reaumurella, though it's encouraging that >95% of Carms records of that species are from May and June. Anyway, I found a female A cuprella resting on the wall of the Keepers building N of Brechfa this morning, then caught 3 males flying around the carpark. Unfortunately my iPod photos were too crap to act as record shots though they do show the very coppery appearance of the moths.
Sam
Welcome to the recording blog for the Carmarthenshire Moth and Butterfly Group. Could members please add any moth or butterfly records or any general items of interest by making a new post. Although everyone can comment on a post you will have to be a member to add a new post.
Sam, i think this moth would be better recorded if people looked for it specifically. It flies around the tops of Sallows on sunny afternoons in April. My recent post was from Parc slip, Tondu, where there are plenty of Sallow/Willow sp, and i found a small group after about 2 weeks of looking. Once located, they tend to stick to the same tree year after year. They are not always over tall Sallows, i found some flying at waist height over a Dwarf sallow sp just down the footpath from Kenfig centre towards the pool a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI've seen them on low willows on Islay in Scotland too.
ReplyDeleteAlso earlier sent (with fuller details) to Sam by seperate email....I`m sure that I`ve had this species in c April 1987/8, over Salix repens flowers in Pembrey Forest. Adrian Fowles det it for me - if my memory is correct.
ReplyDeleteMy memory WAS correct: I have had cuprella at Pembrey Forest, back in the mid-late 1980s. I remembered too exactly where it was -at SN392025 (give or take a few metres or so). It definately was an early spring record. Jon Baker has all my paper records, so you will be able to get the exact grid ref and date off those; it was det. by AP Fowles.
ReplyDeleteI also remembered that I may have mentioned it in a review of the invertebrates of the Tywyn- Pembrey area in the Dyfed Invertebrate Group Newsletter (No 22, Sept 1991:10). Upon checking, I see that there is the comment, `in Spring the delicate gold-coloured micro-moth Adella cuprella can be netted as it engages in dancing courtship flight around willow blossom`.
A Postscript: Sam has found the dates of my c half-dozen or so past cuprella records at Pembrey Forest and, except for one, the dates all look rather late for this species. It is best therefore to disregard any cuprella records from there, unless I (or others) can collect there pretty soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your research efforts Sam.