24/6/09: Bee Moth at Barnehurst window

For the second night running I've had a male Bee Moth (Aphomia sociella) at the lounge window. The larvae feed on the comb inside bee and wasp nests, and are said to eat the grubs when other food runs out, an unusual case of carnivorous behaviour amongst the Lepidoptera.


It took a long time because I wasn't sure where to start looking, but I eventually identified this specimen by working my way through the images at UKMoths - http://ukmoths.org.uk/index.php

Not the greatest photo here, but then it was taken through the side of a jam-jar with a mobile phone cam .............

Not so common Blues in Barnehurst

The two Blues found in Barnehurst are the Holly Blue and Common Blue. Neither is abundant.

Holly Blues tend to appear one at a time, and generally fly higher than Common Blues, sometimes re-tracing particular 'circuits' of shrubbery.

Holly Blue on Camellia in my Barnehurst garden, 19th May

The Common Blue is a bit more gregarious. Numbers on an allotment site in Barnehurst - never high - appear to have been very poor last year, though I wasn't around so much.

On the day of the mating pictured below, three were seen at once on the most favourable plot, flying about randomly at about 4' off the ground. The favoured nectaring plant was Geranium pyrenaicum (white-flowered form).

Common Blues mating in a Barnehurst allotment, 22nd May

A few days later I had this female in my garden, pictured at rest on the purple-leaved cultivar of culinary Sage.

Female Common Blue in my back garden, 28th May

If Common Blue caterpillars do develop in this area, Black Medick is likely to be the main foodplant.