Richard Fox
@richardfoxbc.bsky.social
Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation - moth & butterfly sightings, science & conservation. (He/his)
I’ve found the mines and larva of Bucculatrix bechsteinella (Hawthorn Tuft) before but this is the first adult I’ve seen - caught in my garden moth-trap in July and confirmed by gen. det. Love the little tuft of black scales in the middle of each forewing. #teammoth
November 2, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I’ve found the mines and larva of Bucculatrix bechsteinella (Hawthorn Tuft) before but this is the first adult I’ve seen - caught in my garden moth-trap in July and confirmed by gen. det. Love the little tuft of black scales in the middle of each forewing. #teammoth
Slightly better moth trap haul this morning including first Yellow-line Quakers of the year and only my second Merv of the autumn. Good to see Feathers McThorn too (kudos to @mavisbickle.bsky.social for officially renaming Feathered Thorn!) #teammoth
October 31, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Slightly better moth trap haul this morning including first Yellow-line Quakers of the year and only my second Merv of the autumn. Good to see Feathers McThorn too (kudos to @mavisbickle.bsky.social for officially renaming Feathered Thorn!) #teammoth
There are still plenty of leaf mines about - this Stigmella atricapitella (Black-headed Dot) was NFY for me at the weekend on an oak by the village playing field. #teammoth
October 28, 2025 at 6:45 PM
There are still plenty of leaf mines about - this Stigmella atricapitella (Black-headed Dot) was NFY for me at the weekend on an oak by the village playing field. #teammoth
Stigmella glutinosae (White-barred Alder Dot) mine found in the village today on Alder. The larva exited the mine (before photo was taken) but enabled me to see its dark, ventral, prothoracic plate which rules out S. alnetella. #teammoth
October 25, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Stigmella glutinosae (White-barred Alder Dot) mine found in the village today on Alder. The larva exited the mine (before photo was taken) but enabled me to see its dark, ventral, prothoracic plate which rules out S. alnetella. #teammoth
atricapitella has dark plates behind head (or so I’ve been told) - I found this one today that I’ve IDed as atricapitella
October 25, 2025 at 5:26 PM
atricapitella has dark plates behind head (or so I’ve been told) - I found this one today that I’ve IDed as atricapitella
Larva of Teleiodes luculella (White Crescent) that I found at the weekend - it lives between two oak leaves that it has spun flat together and on which it also feeds. #teammoth
October 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Larva of Teleiodes luculella (White Crescent) that I found at the weekend - it lives between two oak leaves that it has spun flat together and on which it also feeds. #teammoth
Fascinating Swedish study proving that threatened butterflies can still disperse surprisingly long distances eg Marsh Fritillary >8km and more than 10% of Large Blues travelled at least 1km resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🌍
October 22, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Fascinating Swedish study proving that threatened butterflies can still disperse surprisingly long distances eg Marsh Fritillary >8km and more than 10% of Large Blues travelled at least 1km resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🌍
Belated ID of Gypsonoma oppressana (Mottled Grey Tortrix) feeing signs on poplar in Sept thanks to the fine folk at the leaf miners Facebook group. I thought you needed to see the larva to ID this species but the mine along the mid-rib is distinctive apparently. Every day’s a school day. #teammoth
October 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Belated ID of Gypsonoma oppressana (Mottled Grey Tortrix) feeing signs on poplar in Sept thanks to the fine folk at the leaf miners Facebook group. I thought you needed to see the larva to ID this species but the mine along the mid-rib is distinctive apparently. Every day’s a school day. #teammoth
Really nice paper from @tiff-ki.bsky.social & co. shows no overall decline in butterfly species richness in Sulawesi over 166 yrs, but changing communities with endemics & forest specialists declining. Short-term trends unreliable measures of long term. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🌏
October 20, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Really nice paper from @tiff-ki.bsky.social & co. shows no overall decline in butterfly species richness in Sulawesi over 166 yrs, but changing communities with endemics & forest specialists declining. Short-term trends unreliable measures of long term. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🌏
Some nice leafmines from a brief search in Glos last Friday with Guy Meredith: Coptotriche angusticollella (Rose Blotch-miner), Stigmella pyri (Pear-tree Dot), S. poterii (Burnet Dot) & Ectoedemia arcuatella (Strawberry Dot). All Nationally Scarce #teammoth
October 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Some nice leafmines from a brief search in Glos last Friday with Guy Meredith: Coptotriche angusticollella (Rose Blotch-miner), Stigmella pyri (Pear-tree Dot), S. poterii (Burnet Dot) & Ectoedemia arcuatella (Strawberry Dot). All Nationally Scarce #teammoth
This little moth (Plutella porrectella Streaked Diamond-back) in my garden last night was the big one!! My 1,000th moth species of the year in the UK! #teammoth
October 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This little moth (Plutella porrectella Streaked Diamond-back) in my garden last night was the big one!! My 1,000th moth species of the year in the UK! #teammoth
A couple of dark little moths from my garden in June have been confirmed as Grapholita funebrana (Plum Fruit Moth) & G. lobarzewskii (Small Fruit Moth). The latter was a new species for the garden. #teammoth
October 14, 2025 at 6:16 PM
A couple of dark little moths from my garden in June have been confirmed as Grapholita funebrana (Plum Fruit Moth) & G. lobarzewskii (Small Fruit Moth). The latter was a new species for the garden. #teammoth
Amazing what some cloud cover can do - 5 NFY species in the garden trap last night after several weeks of not seeing anything new here: Barred Sallow, Green-brindled Crescent, Blair’s Shoulder-knot & Black Rustic, plus a Merveille du Jour that didn’t stay for the team photo. #teammoth
October 13, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Amazing what some cloud cover can do - 5 NFY species in the garden trap last night after several weeks of not seeing anything new here: Barred Sallow, Green-brindled Crescent, Blair’s Shoulder-knot & Black Rustic, plus a Merveille du Jour that didn’t stay for the team photo. #teammoth
Surprised and delighted to find my first ever larval case of Coleophora violacea (White-tipped Case-bearer) on elm yesterday in a Worcestershire hedgerow. The feeding damage is distinctive as it pierces both surfaces of the leaf. #teammoth
October 13, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Surprised and delighted to find my first ever larval case of Coleophora violacea (White-tipped Case-bearer) on elm yesterday in a Worcestershire hedgerow. The feeding damage is distinctive as it pierces both surfaces of the leaf. #teammoth
The books say that mines of Stigmella myrtillella (Bilberry Dot) are hard to find and I’d agree. Thankfully I eventually found my first one ever yesterday evening (in Leicestershire) after quite a lot of searching. Egg on underside near mid-rib as is typical for this species. #teammoth
October 12, 2025 at 7:58 AM
The books say that mines of Stigmella myrtillella (Bilberry Dot) are hard to find and I’d agree. Thankfully I eventually found my first one ever yesterday evening (in Leicestershire) after quite a lot of searching. Egg on underside near mid-rib as is typical for this species. #teammoth
Coleophora kuehnella (Cloaked Case-bearer) from back in June at a local site. ID confirmed thanks to a gen. det. by Tony Davis. It’s a rarely recorded species in Devon and one I’d not seen before this year - now seen the adult and the larval case at different sites. #teammoth
October 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Coleophora kuehnella (Cloaked Case-bearer) from back in June at a local site. ID confirmed thanks to a gen. det. by Tony Davis. It’s a rarely recorded species in Devon and one I’d not seen before this year - now seen the adult and the larval case at different sites. #teammoth
Blair’s Mocha emergence is starting. This lovely individual was in the garden trap this morning, a different one from yesterday. #teammoth
October 7, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Blair’s Mocha emergence is starting. This lovely individual was in the garden trap this morning, a different one from yesterday. #teammoth
Amazed to see my first ever Dusky-lemon Sallow on a very cold evening in south Devon this week. A rare species in Devon with only a handful of records this century. #teammoth
October 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Amazed to see my first ever Dusky-lemon Sallow on a very cold evening in south Devon this week. A rare species in Devon with only a handful of records this century. #teammoth
Finished September with lifer number 90 for the year with mines of Chrysoesthia drurella (Fiery Miner) at Dawlish Warren with Kevin Rylands. Seems to be a very scarce moth in Devon, though presumably it is also under-recorded. Brings me to 968 moth species for the year so far. #teammoth
October 1, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Finished September with lifer number 90 for the year with mines of Chrysoesthia drurella (Fiery Miner) at Dawlish Warren with Kevin Rylands. Seems to be a very scarce moth in Devon, though presumably it is also under-recorded. Brings me to 968 moth species for the year so far. #teammoth
Early mines of Ectoedemia erythrogenella (Coast Dot) on the east Devon coast on Sunday - a scarce species on bramble. The egg is clearly visible on the upper surface of the leaf. #teammoth
September 30, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Early mines of Ectoedemia erythrogenella (Coast Dot) on the east Devon coast on Sunday - a scarce species on bramble. The egg is clearly visible on the upper surface of the leaf. #teammoth
Lifer today when this Caloptilia falconipennella (Dark Alder Stilt) emerged from a larva I found on Alder at Dawlish Warren earlier this month. #teammoth
September 29, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Lifer today when this Caloptilia falconipennella (Dark Alder Stilt) emerged from a larva I found on Alder at Dawlish Warren earlier this month. #teammoth
Slow going adding NFY moths at the moment with cold nights every night. Thankfully Oak Lutestrings were out in force at our local hotspot for this species on Friday night. This perfect Flounced Chestnut was the only other NFY. #teammoth
September 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Slow going adding NFY moths at the moment with cold nights every night. Thankfully Oak Lutestrings were out in force at our local hotspot for this species on Friday night. This perfect Flounced Chestnut was the only other NFY. #teammoth