Is this a moth?

[green_heath]

Only one moth in our trap so far. Saw this next to the river Dane yesterday. Poor quality photo I'm afraid!

[Greg]

Hi,

This looks like it could be one of the Bagworms. Bankesia conspurcatella looks similar, timings right too.
If it is it's a good find, well spotted.

Regards
Greg

[stevehind]

Hi Heather

Greg may be right with Bankesia conspurcatella but I can't be sure. There is something about it which makes me hold back, possibly it's resting posture, or the angle your photo was taken. It is very local nationally and would be new to Cheshire but was found on Carnforth Station a few years back and the cases have been located regularly since.

If it is Bankesia conspurcatella it would be worth looking around the immediate area for pupal cases. Would you be able to provide a description of the actual site, with a grid reference if possible, as I would be interested in visiting the site to look for its pupal cases ?

Regards
Steve

[green_heath]

Hi Steve and Greg
Thanks for this. We were heading back from a walk along the river, towards the path next to the private houses before the fishing pool at Danebridge. We had just stepped on to a wooden construction which might have been a bridge. Unfortunately it was a bit skittish and I only managed to get a couple photos with telephoto lens before it disappeared. I think the colour is quite good. Les thinks it was about one cm or less. We could pop down early tomorrow and check the location.
Regards
Heather

[JulianB]

Hi all,
I’ve never come across any of the Bagworms, but when I looked them up I could certainly see why you’re thinking along these lines. I imagine you also considered caddisflies, which we frequently find in our trap (we’re about 4 miles upstream from Danebridge on the Dane). I cheerfully park anything that looks a bit like this in that category - which I perhaps shouldn’t! I don’t have a book on caddisflies, but one possible candidate is Philopotamus montanus. It’s almost a dead ringer for Bankesia conspurcatella to my eye. Its flight season is quoted as April-August in British Insects and February-October elsewhere on the web, so mid-March wouldn’t be impossible. It appears to be in this area, and favours upland streams. Are the antennae also good for a caddisfly – striped, rather than the slightly feathery appearance in the illustrations of B. conspurcatella? Attached is a photo of what I assumed was a caddisfly from 01.06.19 from our trap. What do you think?

I love that stretch of the Dane. I saw my first spotted flycatcher there some years ago.

Cheers, Julian

[Greg]

Hi Julian,

My first thought was Caddisfly when I saw Heather's photo, but the angle of the antenna looked wrong.
Your photo shows the antenna pointing forward whereas Heather's insect looks like they are at right
angles to the body. I admit that now after looking at various photos of both Bankesia conspurcatella and
Philopotamus montanus I'm finding them difficult to separate. The antenna on Heather's photo are not
discernable where yours are clearly striped. The fact that it was found near the river would normally
suggest Caddisfly. I suppose like Steve mentioned, if the Bagworm cases were found nearby that would
at least prove of their existance in the area.
Maybe someone with more experience of Caddisflies would be able to help.
A photo of Bankesia conspurcatella below.

P.S The other thing I've noticed are the spurs on your Caddisflies legs whereas the Bagworm
doesn't seem to have them. I can't tell from Heather's photo if her insect has them or not. Maybe
a clearer picture if available would help.

Regards
Greg[/i]