A little over a week ago, following a storm that coincided with the equinoctal tides, I found a small moth larva wandering across bare rock at the top of the shore. It may be a Eudonia sp. – micromoths known as Greys of which I have recorded three species locally. I have put it in a pot with some moss in the hope that it will pupate and then hatch.
I put the moth trap out twice in the last week of March and each time I caught a species that was new to my home list. I showed the Pine Beauty in my last post; the other is Common Plume of which there were three:
This is one of the few Plume Moths that overwinters as an adult. The larvae feed on bindweeds and I have more than enough Calystegia sepium (Hedge Bindweed) in the garden.
Also in the garden, I found a large yellow slug which I was able to identify as the Green Cellar Slug (Limacus maculatus). It is also known as Irish Yellow Slug though actually from south-eastern Europe, first noticed in the UK in the 1970s.
Today on a brief wander I spotted Heath Navel (Lichenomphalia umbellifera). This is quite common on the moors around here and the inconspicuous lichenized thallus contains single-celled green algae in the genus Coccomyxa, interconnected by a loose network of hyphae. The fruiting-bodies (as shown) are non-lichenized.
Nearby the Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) had this fungus on it:
Dennis in Fungi of the Hebrides lists Propolis phacidioides, Lembosina gontardii, Coleophoma empetri and Pseudospiropes rouselianus as growing on Bearberry. Of these, C. empetri, now known as Rhabdostromina empetri, looks the most likely to my inexpert eye but I have asked for help with this one.
Later: Having remembered to consult Ellis & Ellis, Microfungi on Land Plants, I think it is Coccomyces arctostaphyli. I still need an expert to confirm or say nay.
Later still: Confirmed as Coccomyces arctostaphyli.
Tags: Fungi, Moths, Slugs & Snails
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