Nature Notes from Argyll
(and occasionally other places)

23-31 Mar 2011 Taynuilt - some moths that came indoors

Four Early Greys paid a visit, including these two variant forms: the first has a pinkish tinge and the second does not have the oval joined to the kidney mark.
 

These two are frequent visitors and can look similar when worn: Mottled Grey and Early Tooth-striped.
 

A Shoulder Stripe and a Double-striped Pug.  Just one each of these so far.
 

The Hebrew Character has been the commonest moth visitor in March, along with the Mottled Grey.  The Twenty-plume Moth can appear at any time of year.
 

View of a ceiling recess in the building where I live, with cobwebs and peeling plasterboard - oh, and a hibernating Small Tortoiseshell butterfly that has been there all winter.  Update - it left on 4 Apr or early on the 5th.
 

The red blisters on the Bramble stem are galls caused by the rust fungus Kuehneola uredinis.  The upper one is beginning to open to release the orange spores, which are shown in close-up in the lower picture.

The moss cushions on Ash are Ulota phyllantha and Ulota bruchii.  U phyllantha (top half of pic) reproduces by gemmae which are the dark brown items in the head of each shoot.  U burchii puts up capsules which are initially covered by a hairy yellow calyptra that falls off when the spores are ripe so that the capsule can release them.  In the pic some still have the calyptra and others have shed it, showing the ribbed capsule.  The leaves of both these species become very curled and crisped when dry, as seen here.

 

All photos and other content copyright © Carl Farmer