The micro moth Argyresthia ivella

The micro moth Eudemis porphyrana

A larva of the micro moth Eudemis porphyrana

An old Crab Apple tree in Epping Forest

One of the first things that struck me starting in Epping Forest last spring was all the lovely old Crab Apples. With these, come rare Crab Apple feeding micros: the much-declined Argyresthia ivella tapped from a tree on a warm July morning, and Eudemis porphyrana, reared from larva in May #TeamMoth

Peartree Plain a bit further North. There's a big Aspen here: maps.app.goo.gl/UopRzg3Jpykr..., and I netted one flying around there. Lots of other bigger Aspen stands around, so no reason they shouldn't be elsewhere! Happened to be where I got close enough to one I think - can email some locations.

It had vaguely crossed my mind as a possibility the other day, but wasn't really expecting to see one! Fingers crossed it (or others) re-appear, I'll certainly be looking. Btw worth looking out for Light Orange Underwing around Aspen too - I saw one on Peartree Plain last spring.

I'm aware of one from Wanstead Park in 2022 (irecord.org.uk/record-detai...), otherwise most recent in 1980s from the same location I think, but need to do a bit more digging into the historic stuff.

The sort of butterfly moment you dream of today - wandering around the office (Epping Forest) in the late afternoon sun when I flushed a lovely old Large Tortoiseshell from the sunny wall next to this old plum - just wonderful. Seems to be the second recent record from the forest #Butterflies

Parornix atripalpella

Dicladispa testacea larva

Col prunifoliae

Cocoon of Stigmella spinosissimae in

New leafmine site update. Parornix atripalpella early stages seen for first time. Dicladispa testacea newly arrived in UK. Col prunifoliae - elusive species! Stigmella spinosissimae seen. Such an interesting update!

leafmines.co.uk/html/updates...

It was taken at Sydlings Copse in fact :)

A micro-moth with dark brown wings with two creamy-yellow stripes horizontally across the middle and a series of short creamy-yellow stripes along the wing-edges. The moth is perched on a green leaf and is casting a shadow.

This rather dapper moth is the Liquorice Piercer (Grapholita pallifrontana), our Species of the Month. ✨

The Liquorice Piercer is so named because its caterpillars pierce Wild Liquorice seed pods.

📷️: Will Langdon
#MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

The whacky larval case of Coleophora saturatella (Broom Case-Bearer) made from fragments of Broom leaves. This species was found at both Wanstead and Leyton Flats in good numbers. The last south Essex records were also from Wanstead in the 1970s.

The micro moth Crambus uliginosellus (Marsh Grass-veneer) found by day in a bog in the north of Epping Forest. This was the first Essex record of this species which feeds on sedges and grasses growing through Sphagnum moss, confirming the importance of our small areas of Sphagnum bog.

The whacky thumb-print like mines of Leucoptera lotella (Trefoil Blister Moth) on Greater Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus). This is a rare species in spite of its rather common foodplants. It proved reasonably common in damp grasslands in the forest. This was the second Essex record.

An adult of the mysterious tineid moth Stenoptinea cyanimarmorella (Cyan Marbled). This species is rather poorly known, but comes to the HYL lure (for Raspberry Clearwing) as this one did in late summer.

Recently finished totting up my moths in Epping Forest last year - 671 species of which 277 were new for our database, 79 nationally scarce, and 4 new for Essex. Wonderful first year, so many exciting and rare species reflecting the forest's fantastic mix of habitats. Some highlights below...

Not to say releases aren't occurring occasionally of course! I guess trickier question is whether populations are self-sustaining/permanently established. I think there have been larvae/clusters of adults indicating breeding in several counties in each of the last few years...

As Pieter says I think there's good evidence that recent increases (and actually past good years) are caused by immigration. Peaks in 2007/8 correspond with good years in France (when our arrivals were mainly on S coast) and more recently NL/Germany/Belgium (when there were lots on the east coast).

Excellent to see this first paper from Will's PhD in print! Nice summary thread photos too!

'Extinct' butterfly spotted across England A butterfly classed as extinct in the UK for more than 30 years has been seen at sites across southern England.Eagle-eyed nature lovers have captured photographs of Large Tortoiseshells in Kent, Hamps...

'Extinct' butterfly spotted across England butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blo...

Thanks James that's very kind! I did some more work on Small Copper (and a couple of other species) and their response to variation in the nitrogen content of their foodplants, so watch this space (hopefully...)

Thanks very much, Martin! Hope all's good with you.

Thanks Paul!

Super excited to get my copy of this work. The images are fantastic, the text meticulously researched, and a number of very tricky rare micro species have their early stages described and illustrated for the first time. Set to be a game-changer!

Host plant use is driven by microclimate not nutritional quality in a grassland butterfly Small Copper butterflies (Lycaena phlaeas) choose to lay eggs on host plants growing in warmer microclimates, despite lower nitrogen content. Bare ground created by European Moles increases host pla.....

Woops, seems the DOI link to the paper isn't working yet, this one is: resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

An image of the study site for the paper discussed in the thread, a lowland meadow in early summer, with Buttercups in flower.

A Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) plant with a Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) larvae and eggs visible on the plant.

Big thanks to my supervisors @owentlewis.bsky.social and @richardfoxbc.bsky.social from @savebutterflies.bsky.social for their support in this work and throughout my PhD!

The role of a mound-building ecosystem engineer for a grassland butterfly - Journal of Insect Conservation Both land use intensification and abandonment within grasslands lead to a homogenisation of vegetation structure. Therefore, specially structured microsites such as vegetation gaps with bare ground pl...

This highlights the importance of this natural soil disturbance for maintaining species of early successional habitats in more eutrophic grasslands under nitrogen deposition, in line with previous work on leps: link.springer.com/article/10.1... and plants: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A graph showing how temperature around Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) plants is negatively correlated with the size of their leaves - a proxy for plant nitrogen content (plants with larger leaves have higher nitrogen content). Where bare ground is created by soil disturbance however, this negative correlation is flattened, and warm situations are created around plants with high nitrogen content.

Interestingly, some host plants were both high quality and warm – those growing on bare ground created by mole disturbance, and these were very popular host plants.

Global warming and excess nitrogen may induce butterfly decline by microclimatic cooling Global warming may explain the current poleward shift of species distributions. However, paradoxically, climatic warming can lead to microclimatic cooling in spring by advancing plant growth, an effe...

This underlines how thermally constrained Small Coppers (and other grassland insects) can be and suggests that impacts of excessive atmospheric nitrogen deposition on these warmth-loving species are more likely to be via changes in habitat structure than host quality, see: doi.org/10.1111/j.13...

A graph showing the temperature around Common Sorrel plants used for egg-laying by Small Copper butterflies, and the size of their leaves (a proxy for nitrogen content - plants with larger leaves have higher nitrogen content). It shows that plants that were chosen for egg-laying are much warmer than those which were not, but their isn't much difference in their nitrogen content.

Female Small Coppers seem to prioritise warm hosts - the main driver of egg-laying was temperature, even in summer when ambient temperatures are higher, potentially allowing use of relatively cooler, higher quality hosts.

A graph showing how the temperature around Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) plants is negatively correlated with the size of their leaves - a proxy for plant nitrogen content (plants with larger leaves have higher nitrogen content).

We did indeed find that nitrogen-rich host plants tend to grow in cooler microhabitats, a trade-off that could be common for warmth-loving grassland insects at the leading edges of their range.

A graphical representation of how variation in soil nitrogen levels can create a negative correlation between the temperature around a host plant and its nutritional quality, via its direct effect on plant nitrogen content, and its indirect effect on microclimate around host plants (mediated by its effect on plant growth).

We thought this trade-off might arise from the simultaneous effects of soil nitrogen on plant nitrogen content and vegetation structure. High levels increase plant nitrogen content (higher host quality), but also vegetation growth around the host plant (denser vegetation and cooler microhabitat).

A female Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas) egg-laying on Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)

Two eggs of the Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas) on Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)

Excited to see one of my PhD chapters now published! We found a trade-off between the quality of host plants and how warm they were for a declining grassland butterfly (Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas) and looked at how this shaped their egg-laying choices: doi.org/10.1111/een....

Eagerly awaited here too! Looks absolutely amazing...

Should say that after I wrote this I was told by Tymo Muus that R. cripsus was actually found as foodplant in Denmark a long time ago (70s!), but doesn't seem to have made it into the English literature at all. Every day's a school day...

(PDF) Coleophora hydrolapathella (Hering, 1921) (Lep.: Coleophoridae) breeding on Rumex crispus L. in southern England PDF | Coleophora hydrolapathella (Hering, 1921) is reported breeding on Curled Dock (Rumex crispus L.) at Rye Harbour NNR (East Sussex) and Dungeness... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...

As Rob says, coastal shingle in a couple of different areas, and also on drier parts of saltmarsh (close to sites with coastal shingle). Not sure people have looked that widely - only found by a couple of people. Paper here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

New Caledonian Forests are full of hidden natural treasures! 🌿🦋
Our new ZooKeys paper (led by Antoine Guiguet) describes two spectacular new species of Caloptilia moths—C. augeas and C. ceryneia—discovered in the Parc des Grandes Fougères.
zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1738...