Two New Moth Species for Pleasley Pit

By Caron Stubbs

On Thursday 21^st June 2007 a ‘Bug Day’ was organised for the children of Anthony Bek Primary School, which turned out to be a great day for all, especially for me, as in the afternoon, a Six-belted Clearwing moth was swept into the sweep net from its larval food plant, Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria. This was a first sighting for me and a new species for Pleasley Pit CP. ‘Well done!’ Bug Hunters of Anthony Bek Primary School.

 Clearwing moths mimic a wasp, which is thought to offer protection from vertebrate predators, but they can, in most cases, be distinguished from wasps by the dark bar or blotch across the forewings, from which numerous veins radiate. The head and eyes are much smaller also. They have very narrow forewings and quite narrow hind wings, both with large, transparent areas, and black bodies banded with yellow or red.

 The adults are active by day, particularly in sunny weather, but they are very elusive and rarely encountered in the wild. The males fly around the larval food plants, seeking out unmated females. Recently, the use of lures containing synthetic sex pheromones came into use as a recording technique. This has greatly improved the speed and efficiency of detection and some species are proving to be more widespread and frequent than previous records indicate.

 On Thursday 5^th July 2007 another new species of moth was recorded on site thanks to the knowledgeable Mr Brian Statham a keen moth man, we had just walked onto the orchid patch when Brian said ‘with this amount of Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca you will have The Blackneck’. Brian explained the moth is easily disturbed by day and tapped the Tufted Vetch, i could not believe my eyes, there it was, my first ever sighting of the species, Brian informed me this moth can also be seen on the wing soon after dusk by sweeping meadows with the beam of a bright light. That evening my Husband and i went back to the orchid patch just before dusk, we were not disappointed, as three more Blacknecks where sighted, bringing the total to four for that day, another two where sighted the following night but then sadly more torrential rain fell and none have been sighted since but the flight season for The Blackneck is mid June-mid July with one generation. The food plant of The Blackneck, Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca has flourished on site this year and has been a major nectar source for numerous species.