Stainland. Brown moth with white head. Mystery solved?

I was lucky enough to have a second moth of the same species of a brown moth with white head, yesterday afternoon. It was in a spot where I could take nine photos from different angles. I had to crop some photos to get a good look at it. It's not something I care to do as a rule.

There is not as much white on the second moth. However, I got enough photos to show in detail what is happening.

Studying them, I came to three conclusions:

1) It's a Udea prunalis.

2) Both moths have the same features, (white head and same body).

3) The structure and appearance of the white parts, suggests a fungal infection. They exhibit a soft, fluffy appearance.

The 5 photos below, show the details:

1) A shot of the whole moth. Note that the white part is visible on the right leg. The white area here, can clearly be seen to be fluffy on the original photo.

Udea prunalis TBC

2) The white area seems to be spreading round the eyes and to the roots of the antennae.

Spreading round the eyes

3) Showing the white areas spreading across it's face. The next two photos are a little soft focus. I wasn't able to keep the camera in exactly the same place, due to me shaking a little. (An after effect of the health issue.)

White areas spreading across it's face.

4) Showing the white area spreading to it's legs.

White area spreading to it's front legs.

5) Out of interest, I added another whole moth shot, from a different angle. In this image, you can't

see much of the white, just a little on the leading edge of it's left wing. Also, some white shows where it seems to be spreading around the outside edges of it's eyes.

Same moth, different angle

So, it's open to discussion, it it fungal or not? 

If yes, they does this need to be reported officially, in the way the British ladybirds fungal infection has been? I'm very happy to provide high quality photos if asked,

Stainland. Up to date.

By the end of this post I will have caught up. Some of you may wonder why I didn't add them to one big post, as before.  I did try, however, it seems that my concentration has not recovered yet. I got my records of the last few days in quite a mess, by trying to combine them in one post. I started again, it worked. Hey ho! Never  mind, here they are.

Post updated 27th July. Thanks to David for an ID of three moths

25th July 2022 

3 x Marbled Beauties 

3 x Blastobasis lacticolella 

2 x Common Footman 

2 x Marbled Beauties 

1 x Twenty Plume 

1 x Garden Grass Veneer

1 x Grey Dagger (I’m not sure if I’ve seen this one before, or not Nice moth though)

1 x Willow Beauty 

1 x Grey Dagger (I’m not sure if I’ve seen this one before, or not. Nice moth though)

1 x  Eudonia Sp. Unknown ID Needed

1 x Willow Beauty (I think) Very badly Worn 

1 x Unspecified Needs an ID (Poor photo)

This last one has taken me a very long time to complete. I had to re-do it three times and became very irate with myself. I really need help with the IDs here. 

I'm off for a lie down now, I'm am so trashed.

Dark Dagger/Grey Dagger

IDs needed for the below, thank you

Agapeta hamana 

Garden Pebble

Stainland. Catch up.

 20h July 2022

16 moths today, not bad for me, nothing compared to others of course.

7 x Marbled Beauties
3 x Swallowtails
3 x Riband Wave (One Banded)
1 x Eudonia lacustrata
1 x Brimstone
1 x V Pug (Not the same one as yesterday, this is in better condition)

V Pug (Accidentally knocked the ISO 
to 1000, without realising! Poor photo)

Stainland.

 19th July 2022 

Not a bad collection.

3 x Marbled Beauties (One brownish colour, first this season)

2 x Riband Wave

1 x Brimstone
1 x Eudonia lacustrata

1 x Bird Cherry Ermine

1 x Light Emerald (Not seen one for a few years)
1 x V Pug (Nice to see but very worn)

Light Emerald

Stainland. Carrying on with my catch up.

From 17th July 2022

I'm still catching up. There two moths below which I haven't been able to ID. I spent hours at it too. Annoyingly, I have a faint memory of seeing this one before but...? I'll leave it until the last.

2 x Eudonia lacustrata

1 x Eudonia (sp?) It doesn't look like the standard Eudonia l., to me. I'm at a loss, ID Needed.

3 x Marbled Beauty

1 x Bird Cherry Ermine

1 Swallowtail

1 x Udea prunalis with white fungal disease on head .(1st of two in this condition so far this year.)

 Bird Cherry Ermine

Eudonia sp. ID needed

Udea prunalis with white fungal disease on head

Stainland.

I said there would be more to follow. Well. there will be but I had a bit of a relapse. It's the first time in my life that this has happened, it rather caught me by surprise. I suppose we are never to old for new experiences.  (Joke) I'll start on them tomorrow.

Lee mount micro....Copper Ermel

One from this morning - wonder if we have had any of these previously ?

Photos (checked CF) best I could do with this tiny 5 / 6mm Micro.

Roeslerstammia erxlebella

Lee Mount - 24th July

A decent number of moths this week - mostly 'run o' the mill'.

A few from this morning included.....

Pinion-streaked Snout

Plain Golden Y

V-Pug

Willow Beauty

Also the first Copper Underwing agg for this year

Pyrausta aurata x 1

Carcina quercana x 1

Smoky Wainscaot x1 (up to 4 earlier this week)

 

Youtube dragonfly video.

 I've just watched an 18 minute long video on dragonflies. It was fascinating. At the end of it, there is a plug for a 50 minute long David Attenborough video about them, which "... delves into the murky world of dragonflies and has incredible photography.

The 18 min video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJi61NAIsjs

Double Striped Tabby....and Box Tree Moth

 Double Striped Tabby and Box Moth  new for the garden trap this week  and only the second local record of both species , a busy week with some large numbers recorded . Scarce Silver lines x 4 ,  Poplar Grey x 3  ,  Barred Hook Tip x 1 , Beautiful Hook Tip  ,  Narrow - winged Pug x 4 , Common Lutestring , Gold Spangle  , 17 Swallowtail , 44 Marbled Beauty , Plain Wave x 3 .......

Stainland. From13th July.

 Another which cause me some problems. My best guess is A Large Twin-spot Carpet. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you.

Large Twin-spot Carpet TBC

Stainland.. From 11th July.

Sorry, I missed one;

11th July.


2 x Marbled Beauties

2 x Foxglove Pug

2 x Eudonia lacustrata

1 x Brown House moth

1 x Swallowtail

1 x Willow Beauty (First for me this year)

Rishworth Moor

6 Small Heath

 

Baitings

 5 Small Tortoiseshell

Stainland. From 12th July.

 A couple of hours or so after I photographed the 12th of July moths, my life-long health problem surfaced again. It happens without any warning, I was out of action for a few days. 

12th July

Best day this year so far.  3:30 am, we had four swallowtails, I was amazed! List first, one or two images after.

As I was coming round, I tried to ID the moths. Over three days, I spent a lot of hours going through my moth books page by page, and looking online, repeatedly, I have been unable to get an ID for the ones below, it drove me crackers. Could someone please take a look at them and tell me what they are? Thank you

4 x Swallowtails

4 x Eudonia lacustrata

1 x Brimstone

1 x Common footman

1 x Riband Wave

4 to ID yet. One or two are very poor shots and I don't expect any luck with the ginger moth. The first looked a bit like a dark Bee moth, it has two green areas. The Ginger one has off white markings

ID needed

ID needed

ID needed

ID needed

More days catch-ups to follow.

 

Luddenden 19th July 

second night of the massive heatwave, I decided to run all three traps and recorded 63 species of macro plus what seemed like thousands of micros

Scalloped Shell & Rivulet were the pick of the bunch

Scalloped Shell - 2nd record here, last in 2011

Rivulet - quiet regular here this is the 12th

Lee Mount - 18th July

 Two new ones here for me today.

Scalloped Hook-tip

Plutella porrectello

32 species and still counting from this morning with a few micros still to check through. The best of the others this morning included Poplar Grey x 2, Willow Beauty, Bright-line Brown-eye, Cabbage Moth, Shaded Broad-bar, July Highflyer, Purple Clay, Light Emerald, Coxcomb Prominent and Dark Dagger/Grey Dagger x 2.

This one below was a beauty from the end of June (30th)

Sallow Kitten (rather than Poplar Kitten I think though I did ponder it for quite a while)

 SCARLET TIGER

It's been busy here in Luddenden this last week or so with some great Moths, this Scarlet Tiger was the best of a great bunch

 

other goodies include

Dingy Footman 5  (2 last night)

Double Square-spot 4 (2 last night)

Beautiful Hooktip

Poplar Grey (3rd record here)

Poplar Grey

Slender Pug

this tiny pug was only 15mm, we think it was a Slender Pug, any ideas?

Only House Wood

Excellent weather for butterflies , with 5 White Letter Hairstreaks , 2 Purple Hairstreaks , 3 Gatekeeper , 2 Comma , 6 Small Tortoiseshell , 3 Large White , 3 Large  Skipper , 2 Small Skipper , 2 Small White , 40 + meadow brown  and 20 Ringlets..
 

Scarce Footman

 Another 3 records this week after Daves first on the 13th , 1 at Queensbury ,Colin and Denise 15th  , 1 on Norland Moor 16th (Charlie  and Antony ) and 1 in Northowram 16th (AC)

New Yorkshire Moths website is now up and running.....

https://yorkshiremoths.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR1G9rAC5sIE6wf5tF-SOeqyGrs2LQhGTWQeHM5Wi27-wylWmrMv4Fy3tLw 

Emperor Moth

 

Lee Mount - 13th July

Not that many moths in the trap this morning. Started off with Common Footman x 6  (a record count for here I think). Attention drawn to another Footman showing an orange collar - this looks interesting !

Orange stripe consistent width to tip of wing and wings wrapped around the body quite unlike Common Footman.

Scarce Footman

This bottom, original un-cropped photo was the first sighting of this Scarce Footman with the orange collar standing out.

Lee Mount and Swales Moor etc.

A lot of moths this morning - still going through them (photo's). It's not easy keeping up to speed with so much happening and sunny days looking for butterflies !

Small Dusty Wave on Mint - been there all day !

31 species this morning - with the best ones being Barred Red, Green Carpet, Scalloped Oak, Willow Beauty, Light Emerald, Swallow-tailed Moth, Buff Arches x 4, Peppered Moth x 2.

Despite the lack of yesterdays sunshine it remained pretty warm, hot at times. Lots of butterfly's, especially Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Small Skippers. A few Large Skippers, Small Tortoiseshells, Green-veined Whites, Small Heaths, Red Admiral. 

Best for me was a Gatekeeper along Ringby Lane (don't seem to get that many up this end

Gatekeeper

Also a few day flying moths with 35+ of these in the top field of Ringby Lane.

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moths

MOTH MORNING

HALIFAX SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY EVENT THIS SATURDAY

A reminder that there will be a moth morning at Peachy Steve's Mirey Wall farm, Boulder Clough, at 8.00am this Saturday (16th).
Hopefully there will be two traps to sort through and if the weather holds we should surpass the 70 or so species seen on each of the two previous events.
Novices and experts welcome, the event should last 2 or 3 hours so no need to bring snacks