One more moth which we retained for further examination is a Marsh Pug. The books say that it flies in May and June and the caterpillars feed on the flowers and seeds of Field Mouse-ear and is mainly day-flying. We have found other counties with records in July and August, so does it sometimes produce a second generation? Another problem is that Field Mouse-ear is not known to be present in Ceredigion, so are there other foodplants? We have found one site which says it feeds on Common Mouse-ear and also Stitchwort.
On the positive side it is very small (7.5mm wing length) and has all the right features. Hopefully we will revisit the site in some afternoon sunshine to try and find some others.
There are 5 historical county records but the last one was in 1941!
Tony & Ina
Lovely reference photograph. I'll look for some Stitchwort and set the trap.
ReplyDeleteDavid
8 records in the Bucks database, 2 of which are from the second half of July. The ones that are my records (and you can add one from Sutherland last year in June), about half were day flying and half in the moth trap. Your image looks spot on for Marsh Pug too. So David, it might be easier to look for Stitchwort and take the net.
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