Earlier this month I was tidying flowerpots in my back garden in London.
I disturbed some ivy growing on my fence, and several small moths took
briefly to the air and then settled. Always interested to know what's
around I took a closer look and snapped a few photos.
I'm not a moth-er,
but I had a go at identifying them. No joy. I tried various of my field
guides, then checked online sources but was none the wiser.
Finally I
sought the help of social media, and fairly quickly received a reply
from @RogerMorton11 who suggested it might be Clepsis dumicolana, a
Tortrix moth relatively new to the UK with only a few records - Acton,
Chelsea and Longwick in Buckinghamshire.
I followed Roger's advice and
quickly contacted my County Moth Recorder, Colin Plant, who'd already
heard about my find and kindly confirmed the species!
I sent him some
photos, and my record was duly submitted.
Which just goes to show it's
always worth having a good look at any wildlife you find, however
unassuming; it may be something interesting and new.
This little moth's
larvae feed on ivy and the adults are on the wing from around mid-May
through to October. It has a 20 mm wingspan, and lovely complex wing markings in shades of brown. Though uncommon here it is widespread in continental
Europe.
Here are a couple of the photos I took of the Clepsis dumicolana in my garden.
