Werfa Again

Unable to keep away, I had to go back to Werfa colliery site, to see the Alder Moth larva and yes it was still there, but it gets about a bit, being on a different bunch of leaves, this time.

After admiring it for a while, I went on a general mooch around the site, camera in hand, looking for anything that caught my eye (a very relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours), though there didn't seem to be much about. Spotting what I thought was a Nettle Tap moth on a plant of Goldenrod (Solidago viguarea) I attempted to photograph it, but it was a reluctant subject, constantly scurrying around the opposite side if the stem to the one I was on, very much in the manner of plant bugs. Eventually I got this one, poor shot of it before it flew off, but looking at it at home, It looks more like an Apple Leaf Skeletoniser (Choreutis pariana), so I wouldn't mind a bit of advice on this one.

Is this Apple Leaf Skeletoniser? Advice please.

Having photographed that little puzzler, I was about to move on, when I realised there as also a macro larva on the same plant and taking a closer look, instantly recognised it as the Star-wort. I have previously only seen the adult once, in VC42 and last year a larva was found (not by me) in the VC42 half of Cwm Taf Fechan nature reserve, just north of Merthyr Tydfil. This is the first Star-wort larva I have seen and being in VC41, made it that much more rewarding, but if that wasn't enough, I then spotted a second Star-wort larva, lower down on the same plant, so two for the price of one.

My first VC41 Star-wort

I headed off out of Werfa, and followed a forest ride up the hillside above Cwmbach, checking any Goldenrod I came across and also any Angelica flowers. The Goldenrod proved fruitless, but on the Angelica flowers, I found this Phaulernis fulviguttella. I'm pretty certain it is that and not Pammene aurana, which is the small orange spotted moth I usually come across on Hogweed flowers.

Phaulernis fulviguttella, I think. Sorry about the poor photo.

Also on Angelica, I found two Ypsolopha parenthesella: one with the white on the wing and this one without.

Ypsolopha parenthesella