Wednesday 25 April 2012

An Australian invader

 
I have seen this moth quite a bit around in the garden since the 5th of March, and yesterday I took some shots of it and identified it as Epiphyas postvittana, the Light Brown Apple Moth. This Australian native leaf-rolling moth is a generalist feeder regarded as a minor agricultural pest, mostly of apples, in the UK, where it was introduced in the 1930s. The larva feeds on a range of fruit trees and vegetables, by making a silky retreat from which it can feed undisturbed. Adults are dimorphic and also rather variable, although males have a more sharply defined pattern (I think the one above is a male).
It is the first time I come across an Australian invader in the garden.

More info at UKmoths.

1 comment:

RayHolden said...

I've not come across it yet in South Yorkshire, but I've seen and photographed it on several occasions this year by the Thames in Thames Ditton, Surrey.
Now I know its Id - thanks:)