Friday 29 November 2013

It's Been A While...

...since I last saw any moths, but after a slightly milder night, a regular actinic light placed in a local managed woodland produced a couple of December Moths and an Acleris sparsana.

Also on the site were a brace of Mottled Umber, a Scarce Umber and a pair of Winter Moths.

I am trapping for the Winter Garden Moth Scheme, both at home and at the above site, and these were the first moths I can report during the season. Last year (garden only) I had a total of 9 moths during the whole 16 weeks; currently I'm not holding my breath for anything better but let's see shall we!

December Moth

Friday 1 November 2013

Quiet October

October has been very quiet on the moth front. This is partly because I was out of the country for two weeks (I did see a few moths, but nothing too spectacular) and because of the deteriorating weather, I have only run the trap 4 times during the rest of the month.

The only new moths for the year during these sessions has been the aggregate November Moth and a brace of Yellow-line Quakers.

My regular woodland site hasn't been much better, although there have been some new species for my year list and one new for the site:

Blair's Shoulder-knot
Feathered Thorn
Sprawler
Chestnut
Agonopterix arenella

Feathered Thorn

Monday 30 September 2013

Better Autumnal moths

The MV light and reasonably mild nights have continued to pay dividends with some more nice autumn moths in my garden.

Continuing large numbers of Large Yellow Underwing (up to 29) and Lunar Underwing (up to 16) have made the overall numbers quite high (up to 103) , although the maximum number of species has been 19.

New for the year list in my garden have been:

Rush Veneer
Figure of Eight (I did have a caterpillar in the spring)
Large Ranunculus
Brown-spot Pinion (all-time garden first)
Beaded Chestnut

Brown-spot Pinion

Also trapping in my favourite woodland spot only produced three moths this week (it was the coldest night), but at least this list included

Sallow (new for year)
Pink-barred Sallow (only my 2nd ever)

Pink-barred Sallow

Wednesday 25 September 2013

More interesting moths...

Continuing with my nightly MV sessions, I am getting to see more interesting moths in my garden trap. After sifting through the large numbers of Large Yellow and Lunar Underwings, and avoiding the (luckily fairly passive) Hornets, I have had three more year-firsts, one of which is an all-time garden first.

Barred Sallow
Deep-brown Dart (new for garden)

Blair's Shoulder-knot

It was also nice to receive a brief visit from a migrant Silver Y.



Barred Sallow


Blair's Shoulder-knot


Deep-brown Dart

Monday 23 September 2013

Lifer!

I ran the MV light again for a couple of hours in the early evening, with the actinic left on for the rest of the night, to take advantage of the warmer weather.

Although my catch was lower than the previous night, mainly comprising Large Yellow Underwings and Lunar Underwings, I was very pleased to find my first garden Red-Green Carpet for this year, and more importantly an unusual moth which took me a while to id, and which turned out to be a lifer Oak Lutestring.

Oak Lutestring

Sunday 22 September 2013

Some warmer weather!

This weekend the temperature has risen by around 5C and there is no rain, so after a quiet week, we ran an evening MV in a local woodland, and I ran an evening MV in my garden. The garden session (same length of time) produced quite a few more moths than the woodland, which is odd, but it was nice to be able to count into double figures again!

The woodland session produced only singles of 10 species (apart from 2 Light Emerald). Nothing desperately unusual arrived, but a lifer for me was Pink-barred Sallow and new for the year was Acleris emargana and the first Red-Green Carpet of the season.

The general picture in the garden over the last week has been small numbers of Large Yellow Underwing and Lunar Underwing, with a smattering of Lesser Yellow Underwing.

The MV session, though, produced 51 moths of 18 species, with the highlights being a garden-first Acleris emargana and late (or new generation?) examples of Barred Hook-tip (last 21st Aug), Small Blood-vein (last 1st Aug) and Small Dusty Wave (last 31st Jul).

Acleris emargana


Friday 13 September 2013

Autumn is with us!

Autumn is with us, and this has meant a huge reduction in the numbers of moths I'm seeing. It is noticably colder at night, and the amount of rain seems to have dramatically increased as well, so the trap has (apart from large numbers of Large Yellow Underwing) been catching very few moths.

I did have one micro lifer, in the form of Ypsolopha sylvella which was nice, a new one for the all-time garden list with Blood-vein and a couple for the garden year list with Hypatima rhomboidella and Eudonia angustea.


Blood-vein

The regular weekly woodland trap has been running as well, with new species for the site being Anacampsis populella, Agonopterix arenella, Light Brown Apple Moth and Snout, plus new for my overall year list Frosted Orange.


Frosted Orange


Monday 2 September 2013

The Last Summer Expeditions

To round off the summer, two of us ran an MV light in a nearby woodland reserve. We have tried to trap roughly once-a-month over the season, and this will probably be the last at this particular site. The session added some new moths for the site list, but the overall catch was not huge (56 moths, 30 species). Best species were:

Agonopterix ocellana
Hypatima rhomboidella (NFY)
Epinotia ramella (NFY)
Blood-vein (NFY)
Centre-barred Sallow (NFY)

Plus the first of the 2nd generation of Green Carpet and Light Emerald.

I also had my regular weekly trip to another favourite woodland site on Friday. Considering we ran two low-powered actinic lights, the catch of 53 moths 27 species wasn't bad compared with the MV above!
Best of the haul:

Mompha raschkiella (lifer)
Acleris laterana (NFY)
Vapourer - a male this week!

The garden catch since the last report has been fairly consistent, both size and species-wise, but a trickle of new species for the garden year list has kept things interesting:

Blastobasis adustella
Pyrausta purpuralis (NFG)
Purple Bar (NFG)
Small Square-spot (NFY)
Centre-barred Sallow (NFG)

Centre-barred Sallow





Saturday 24 August 2013

A few new species!

After a pretty quiet month in my garden, I had a catch of 91 moths of 44 species last night in spite of the wet weather! This was my best since the 1st Aug, and that includes 3 nights during the month when I used my MV light - just goes to show that actinic is not always a bad choice! Quite a few of these were new for my all-time garden list as well...

Caloptilia populetorum (NFG)
Apotomis betuletana
Small Waved Umber (NFG)
Wormwood Pug (NFG)
Common Wave
Six-striped Rustic (NFG)
Feathered Gothic (NFG)
Canary-shouldered Thorn (NFG)
Mouse Moth

I also had a trap in my favoured woodland site the night before, and although the trap itself didn't catch anything new (Square-spot Rustic was new for the site, but I've had plenty elsewhere), we did find this female Vapourer with a clutch of eggs:

Vapourer

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Moths for kids!

I was asked to provide some moths and other insects for a summer holiday kids' event at a local outdoor venue this week, so taking the opportunity to trap on a new site, I ran my MV light on Monday night.

I had 184 moths of 34 species, although it was notable that 80 of these were Flame Shoulder. There were very few micros in the trap, and a handful of new species for my year list, namely

Square-spot Rustic
Feathered Gothic

Feathered Gothic


It is fair to say that some kids are more interested than others in moths!

I also ran a trap at my regular woodland site, but the weather was quite poor so nothing new, although there were decent numbers of Maple Prominent and Black Arches.

The garden has been somewhat more productive in terms of new moths, although the numbers are definitely decreasing overall (apart from the various Agriphila species which are appearing in some numbers!)

New for the year have been:

Caloptilia stigmatella
Aethes smeathmanniana
Acleris laterana
Epinotia nisella
Svensson's Copper Underwing
Vine's Rustic

Oh yes, and three of these:



Sunday 11 August 2013

National Moth Night

At least the weather for National Moth Night (or three nights really) this year was a little better (!). During the course of these three nights, I ran or was involved with trapping in my own garden, a local chalk grassland nature reserve, and in a local mixed woodland (where I often trap).

The "theme" of National Moth Night this year was Tiger Moths, although the only "Tiger" species caught was Ruby Tiger - one in the garden, and about 10 at the nature reserve (it was difficult to keep count of everything through the session).

The total from the 3 nights was 422 moths of 126 species, which, compared to July, is well down, but as there were some lifers and new-for-year moths, I'm happy :)

Highlights, i.e. first for the site year list were:

Garden (162 moths 57 species) -

Orange Swift
Rosy Minor

Orange Swift


Woodland (75 moths 35 species) -

White-shouldered House Moth
Blastobasis adustella
Apotomis betuleana
Agriphila straminella
Common Carpet
Wormwood Pug
Pebble Prominent
Six-striped Rustic (NFY)
Copper Underwing (probably Svensson's but not 100%)
Ear Moth agg.

Six-striped Rustic


Chalk Grassland (185 moths 92 species)


Agonopterix arenella (NFY)
Teleiodes vulgella (lifer)
Cochylis dubitana (lifer)
Dark Spinach (NFY)
Small Waved Umber (lifer)
Dark Umber (NFY)
Tree-lichen Beauty (lifer)
Straw Underwing (lifer)
Scarce Silver-lines (lifer)


Thursday 8 August 2013

Nice Lifer!

Although I haven't had many moths in the garden over the last few days, due to the colder nights and the rain, I have had a handful of new species for the year, one in particular being of interest.

As it was something I'd not seen before elsewhere, I posted a photo and got two people giving me an id.

The photo went to the county recorder, who confirmed a Toadflax Brocade, which, he tells me, is only the 7th county record (2 of those were larvae), so although I've heard reports of occasional individuals in the adjoining counties of Herts. & Middx., I felt very honoured to have this species in my garden :)

Here it is:

Toadflax Brocade

Monday 5 August 2013

Out and About...

I always do what I can to help others out with there moth trapping needs, so on Thursday and Friday nights I ran traps in a woodland and a town garden (plus of course my own garden trap).

Thursday night was a couple of traps in a regular woodland setting, with a highest for the site so far count of 165 moths of 63 species. No MV lights were involved, either!

Highlights included:

Catoptria pinella
Large Emerald
Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (NFY)
Scallop Shell (NFY)
Dusky Thorn
Pine Hawk-moth
Maple Prominent
Antler Moth (lifer)

Antler Moth


Friday night I ran a trap in a garden in a medieval market town, to hopefully catch something for a public event. Although the count was quite low, I at least had on NFY in the shape of

Orange Swift

The garden trap was quite quiet as well, but a few highlights were

Meal Moth (NFY)
Garden Rose Tortrix
Peach Blossom (NFG)
Small Phoenix (NFG)
Bordered Pug (lifer)
Magpie Moth (NFY)
Campion (lifer)
Marbled Beauty

Bordered Pug

Thursday 1 August 2013

Bumper Crop!

I decided to run my MV light last night, and what a catch I got! There are still 6 micros I can't id, but everything else added up to 280 moths of 98 species.

There were several things I hadn't seen in the garden yet this year, including a few totally new.

Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner (NFY)
Cherry Fruit Moth (Lifer)
Bird-cherry Ermine
Orchard Ermine (NFY)
Ypsolopha scabrella
Diamond-back Moth
Batia unitella
Brown House Moth
Carcena quercana
Pandemis cinnamomeana
Large Fruit-tree Tortrix
Clepsis consimilana
Light Brown Apple Moth
Red-barred Tortrix
Plum Tortrix
Bud Moth
Garden Grass-veneer
Crambus pascuella
Agriphila tristella
Catoptria falsella (NFY)
Scoparia ambigualis
Phlyctaenia coronata
Udea prunalis
Mother of Pearl
Endotricha flammealis
Bee Moth
Scalloped Hook-tip
Oak Hook-tip
Barred Hook-tip
Clay Triple-lines
Small Blood-vein
Least Carpet
Small Fan-footed Wave
Small Dusty Wave
Single-dotted Wave
Riband Wave
Yellow Shell
Freyer's Pug
White-spotted Pug
Tawny-speckled Pug (NFY)
V Pug
Double-striped Pug
Clouded Border (NFG)
Scorched Carpet
Tawny Barred Angle
Brimstone
Dusky Thorn (NFY)
September Thorn (NFY)
Early Thorn
Purple Thorn
Scalloped Oak
Peppered Moth
Willow Beauty
Mottled Beauty
Great Oak Beauty
Common White Wave
Clouded Silver
Light Emerald
Barred Red
Elephant Hawk-moth
Sallow Kitten (NFY)
Lesser Swallow Prominent
Yellow-tail
Black Arches
Dingy Footman
Scarce Footman
Buff Footman
Common Footman
Buff Ermine
Ruby Tiger
Heart & Dart
Shuttle Shaped Dart
Flame
Large Yellow Underwing
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Double Square-spot
Bright-line Brown-eye
Smoky Wainscot
Grey Dagger agg.
Coronet
Dun-bar
Dark Arches
Light Arches
Marbled Minor agg.
Tawny Marbled Minor agg.
Cloaked Minor
Common Rustic
Uncertain
Rustic
Nut-tree Tussock
Silver Y
Spectacle
Beautiful Hook-tip
Waved Black
Snout
Fan-foot
Black Arches

Saturday 27 July 2013

Out and About

Last night, I took part in a very sociable session at RSPB Otmoor with friends and experts, running traps and a sheet at various locations on the reserve.  Although some of the hoped-for species were not seen (that being based on a session run at the same time last year), the list hit around 750 moths of over 160 species.

Accurate counts of some of the common species were not possible, so the total number of moths was over 1000, but one notable count was 63 Garden Tigers.

Some of the notable macro species included (lifers for me in bold) :

Oak Eggar
Large Emerald
Blood Vein
Small Scallop
Large Twin-spot Carpet
Shaded Broad-bar
Dark Umber
Bordered Beauty
September Thorn
Sallow Kitten
Round-winged Muslin
Rosy Footman
Four-dotted Footman
Kent Black Arches
Dark Sword-grass
Double Dart

Southern Wainscot
Smoky Wainscot
Common Wainscot
Minor Shoulder-knot
Small Dotted Buff
Dusky Sallow

The Crescent
Fen Wainscot
Silky Wainscot
Gold Spot
Blackneck

 Four-dotted Footman
 Bordered Beauty
 Blackneck
Kent Black Arches

Friday 26 July 2013

New for the year.

Having run the GMS trap for my favourite woodland site, and also for my own garden a day early this week, a few new moths for my year list arrived on the scene.

The woodland highlights included:

Treble-bar (NFY)
Nut-tree Tussock (the next generation)
Waved Black (NFY)
Drinker
Black Arches (NFY)

Drinker
 
My garden list wasn't quite so good, but Shaded Broad-bar was new for the year (although it flew off before I could grab a photo).

Wednesday 24 July 2013

More new garden moths

Although the weather seems to be reverting to type (i.e. cold, wet etc - normal British Summer) and the moth numbers are down, I am still getting new species in the garden trap; it's always nice to see "old favourites" from last year.

I've also spent several hours (well, probably a couple) trying to get micros to settle sufficiently for photographs and examination with a hand-lens. Some of them, I have identified, but some will forever remain a mystery.

The highlights of this exercise, plus the last couple of night's trapping were:

Agriphila tristella
Thrachycera advenella
Athrips mouffetella
Cork Moth (NFG)
Timothy Tortrix (NFG)
August Thorn
Vapourer (NFG)
Copper Underwing agg. (flew off before I could have a decent look...)
Agriphila inquinatella
Carcena quercana
Phoenix
Scalloped Hook-tip
Orthopygia glaucinalis
Juniper Webber
Dun-bar
Gothic

Gothic

 

Monday 22 July 2013

Back to Bucks

I've been away enjoying the sunshine and moths of Gower. Some of my sightings there are posted in the GMRG Blog (link on the right) so I won't repeat them here, suffice to say I saw a LOT of new moths, and a lot of more common ones as well. Moths appear to be thriving there!

I have been running my garden trap, for the GMS recording scheme and also last night to give the MV light a go before wet weather returns. The new and interesting moths were:

Bramble Shoot Moth
Pammene fasciana (NFY)
Dipleurina lacustrata
Phlyctaenia coronata

Mother of Pearl
Endotricha flammealis
Wax Moth
White Plume Moth (NFG)
Buff Arches
Small Emerald (lifer)
Clay Triple-lines
Dwarf Cream Wave
Yellow Shell
July Highflyer
Fern
Small Rivulet
V Pug
Scalloped Oak
Poplar Hawk-moth
Scarce Footman
Short-cloaked Moth
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Smoky Wainscot
Common Rustic agg.
Rustic
Yellow Tail
Ruby Tiger
Bird-cherry Ermine
Lozotaeniodes formosanus (NFG)
Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix
Oak Nycteoline (NFG)
The Cinnabar (NFG)
Acleris forsskaleana
Common Wainscot
Small Fan-footed Wave
Swallow-tailed Moth
Single-dotted Wave
Ruby Tiger
Clay (NFG)
Least Carpet
Chinese Character

Chinese Character

Tuesday 9 July 2013

The New Arrivals Continue...

With the hot weather continuing, moth numbers to my actinic light have been dramatically increased, with over 30 species a night (more than twice the species and 4 times the individuals as last week), and consequently new species are appearing on the list all the time.

It's always nice to see familiar species re-emerging, and even more so, new species for the garden list:

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana (NFG)
Scoparia pyralella
Udea prunalis
Common Emerald (strictly speaking, in the house rather than the garden!)
Small Blood Vein
Small Dusty Wave
Dwarf Pug
Peacock Moth (NFG)
Brown Silver-line (NFG)
Pale Oak Beauty (NFG)
Buff Footman
Miller (NFG)

Miller

Sunday 7 July 2013

Good end to a hectic week's mothing.

On Friday night, I was involved in two separate trapping sessions, both with the ultimate aim of providing some interesting moths to show members of the public, but also, obviously, to get in some great mothing.

The first session was at a chalk grassland reserve with a total of 5 lights running, and although I had to leave before the final opening of the traps, there was an excellent range of species arriving, over 100 macro and 50 micro species, with several more taken for later id.

For my own lists, the highlights were as follows; all new for the year:

Blue-bordered Carpet
White Plume
Ghost Moth
Brown Scallop
Barred Yellow (lifer)
Maple Prominent
Bramble Shoot Moth
Mocha (lifer)
Miller (lifer)
Eyed Hawk-moth
Fan-foot
Pine Hawk-moth
Bordered Sallow (lifer)
Clay
Shaded Pug (lifer)
Haworth's Pug (lifer)
Brown-line Bright-eye (lifer)
Bright-line Brown-eye
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Reddish Light Arches (lifer)

The second session involved leaving a variety of traps overnight in a favourite woodland spot:

Barred Red (lifer)
Grey Arches
Dark Arches
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Great Oak Beauty
Brindled White Spot
Pinion-streaked Snout
Currant Pug

and later in the day;

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet (lifer)

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

The fun wasn't over yet, as I ran my MV light in my garden overnight, with the following highlights; all at least new for the garden year list:

Treble Brown Spot
Common Footman
Great Oak Beauty (NFG)
Barred Red (NFG)
Light Emerald
Dark Arches
Lime Hawk-moth (lifer)
Lychnis (lifer)
Dusky Brocade (lifer)
Lime Hawk-moth






Friday 5 July 2013

Out and About

Apart from the usual running the trap in the garden, I also went with a friend over to Bowdown Woods, near Thatcham, to join a session run by Berkshire BBOWT. We joined in a lot of their sessions last year, seeing a lot of excellent moths, but this was the first time this year.

The traps were left overnight, but as we had to leave around midnight, I only saw 85 moths of 52 species, so anything that came in later, well, we missed!

The new ones for my year list were:

Variegated Golden Tortrix
Agriphila straminella
Ephestia parasitella
  (lifer)
Platyptilia pallidactyla
Drinker
Blotched Emerald
Common Emerald
Phoenix
Purple Clay
Double Square-spot
Green Arches
Poplar Grey
Small Angle Shades
Dark Arches

My garden trapping has been fairly quiet this week, which is why I've not posted, but new for the garden list this year were:

Argyresthia curvella (lifer)

Pandemis cinnamomeana
Lozotaenia forsterana  
Marbled Orchard Tortrix
Crambus pascuella
Garden Pebble
Mottled Beauty
Lesser Swallow Prominent
Large Yellow Underwing
Angle Shades

Angle Shades













Sunday 30 June 2013

Massive night in the garden

Last night, I decided to run my 80W MV bulb on my trap all night. And boy was it worth it!

I've got a bunch of  pots in the fridge yet to be identified, but with the things I have done 115 moths of 51 species.

One lifer, a few new for the year list (NFY), a few new for the garden year list, and a few new for the all-time garden list (NFG).

Ash Bud Moth (Lifer)
Green Pug (NFY)
Clouded Silver
Elephant Hawk-moth (NFY)
Buff-tip
Lobster
Pebble Prominent (NFY)
Figure of Eighty (NFY and NFG)
Beautiful Golden Y
Beautiful Hook-tip
Double Square Spot (NFY)
Flame Shoulder
Straw Dot (NFG)
Marbled White-spot (NFG)
Small Fan-foot (NFY)
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix

Figure of Eighty

Saturday 29 June 2013

Lifers!

A great night's two-site trapping session in a couple of local woodlands. In total, we caught over 200 moths of 65 species, using a 50W MV and 20W actinic - not too bad I thought especially given recent catches!

I won't list everything, just the highlights, which for me usually means species either new for the site, the year (NFY), or all-time (Lifer).

Agapeta hamana - NFY
Brown China-mark -NFY
Green Oak Tortrix - NFY
White-pinion Spotted
Light Emerald - NFY (over 40 individuals!)
Large Yellow Underwing - NFY
Spectacle
Small White Wave
Small Yellow Wave - Lifer
Nutmeg - NFY
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix - NFY
Perinephela lancealis - NFY
Blotched Emerald - NFY
Treble Brown Spot - NFY
Mottled Beauty - NFY
Coronet
Bird's Wing - Lifer
Beautiful Golden Y

Bird's Wing

Friday 28 June 2013

...and a wet week

The weather really hasn't been good this week in Bucks, although hopefully things will pick up over the next week. Please??!!!

The garden trap has been pretty much empty, although most of what has bothered to show up has been new for the year, including Riband Wave, Clouded Brindle, Uncertain, Snout, Ingrailed Clay, Small Magpie and Olindia schumacherana (a lifer!). That list makes things look a lot better than they were!

Olindia schumacherana

Also checked the weekly trap and security lights at the local woodland burial park, which is proving a most productive spot. This weeks highlights were Pretty Chalk Carpet, Rustic Shoulder-knot, and Gold Swift (another lifer!)

Gold Swift

Monday 24 June 2013

Oh dear :(

The calendar says that summer has started, but the number of moths appearing at my trap over the weekend suggest otherwise. Lets hope that the coming week is a bit more productive; it's not particularly warm but at least it's dry!

On Friday night, a new species for the garden year list in my GMS catch with a well-hidden Buff Ermine, and last night's only moth was at least a new one for my total year list - Ingrailed Clay.

Ingrailed Clay

Thursday 20 June 2013

100 species!!

Last night was a half-century of moths and also it produced my 100th garden species of the year.

I had sent off a bunch of micros to an expert for identification, and the results came back yesterday evening, adding 6 to my garden year list, and 7 to my life list (some came from other South Bucks sites).

I was so pleased to get my first garden hawk-moths of the year, in the shape of a brace of Small Elephant Hawk-moths. Since this species includes Rosebay Willowherb amongst it's food plants, I shall leave my fruit cage unweeded this year...

The trap was rather colourful in fact with the yellow of a Brimstone and the bright green of 3 Green Silver-lines. The rest were not so bright, but the new species were:

Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Udea olivalis
Peppered Moth
Codling
Heart & Club
Coronet
White-spotted Pug

Small Elephant Hawk-moth

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Still Improving!

A catch of over 40 moths of over 20 species last night was far and away the best of the year so far, and included 7 species of carpet, and a few new-for-year species.

The species new for this year's garden list are as follows:

Celypha lacunana
Pale Mottled Willow
Willow Beauty
Spectacle

Pale Mottled Willow

Monday 17 June 2013

More lifers!

Things have been busy on the moth front in the chilterns, although not quite as busy as was hoped!

I attended an trapping event with a few experts on Saturday night, in beech woodland close to Stokenchurch. It had been exceedingly wet all day, and the drizzle continued on and off into the night, but there were at least some moths around, including a couple of lifers for me. A few were taken away for proper id...

New moths for my year included:

Map-winged Swift (Lifer)
Hypochalcia ahenella (Lifer)
Purple Bar
Foxglove Pug
White-pinion Spotted
Clouded Silver
Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Common Wainscot
Marbled White Spot
Beautiful Golden Y
Straw Dot

My garden produced a reasonable haul last night as well (again, expectations are considerably diminished at the moment!). Quite a few species which were new for my garden year list:

Incurvaria ohelmanniella
Pebble Hook-tip
Foxglove Pug
Freyer's Pug (new for all-time garden list)
Middle-barred Minor
Green Silver-lines

Foxglove Pug

Friday 14 June 2013

A few lifers!

Quite a bust week moth-wise, having taken part in a bioblitz filmed for the One Show (no I won't be on TV!), run the weekly trap at the local woodland burial park, and of course run my own garden trap.

For various reasons, the catches were not as high as hoped (still fuming...) but at least I had some lifers - mainly micros - and a handful of new species for the year list.

The highlights from the three sites were as follows:

NFY - new for year
NFG - new for garden all-time list

Broken-barred Carpet (NFY)
Grey Pug (NFY and NFG)
Dwarf Pug (NFY)
Coxcomb Prominent
Heart & Dart (NFY)
Lesser Swallow Prominent
Great Prominent
Pale Oak Beauty
Incurvaria oehlmanniella (Lifer)
Nettle-tap Moth (NFY)
Alabonia geoffrella (NFY)
Ptycholoma lecheana (Lifer)
Plum Tortrix (NFY)
Epinotia bilunana  (NFY)
Spotted Shoot Moth (Lifer)
Pammene germmana (Lifer)
Udea olivalis (NFY)
May Highflyer
Bordered White (Lifer)
Pyrausta aurata (Lifer)

 Coxcomb Prominent
 Bordered White
Epinotia bilunana

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Garden First!

Although it was wet this morning, and cold, and still hardly any moths appearing, I was pleased to find a garden first this morning resting on the wiring.

I also found a new-for-year micro whilst mowing the lawn.

The "full" list was:

1 x Epiblema cynosbatella (NFY)

3 x Garden Carpet
1 x Mottled Pug
2 x Common Pug
1 x Shears
3 x Treble Lines
1 x Lime-speck Pug (NFG)

Lime-speck Pug

Monday 10 June 2013

Where are the moths??

OK, so I've had a few in the garden over the last couple of nights, with a couple of newly-emerged beauties for the year list, but it does seem to be a common theme in this part of the country sadly.

My weekend catch was as follows:

Scoparia ambigualis - 1
Garden Carpet - 4
Yellow-barred Brindle - 5
Mottled Pug - 3
Common Marbled Carpet - 2
Flame Carpet - 1
Spruce Carpet - 1
White Ermine - 1
Shears - 1

and a micros, so small and brown, I doubt I'll ever know what it is!

Shears

Saturday 8 June 2013

Woodland Trips

With a friend, we ran a couple of traps in two local woodlands last night. It's nice to see that, in spite of my poor garden catches this year, there are at least some moths out there. The total list, which includes a couple of species caught by netting, or seen whilst setting and collecting the traps is as follows:

Phyllonorycter harrisella - 2
Eulia ministrana - 8 (NFY)
Bee Moth - 1
Pebble Hook-tip - 2
Peach Blossom - 1 (NFY)
Clay Triple-lines - 1
Silver-ground Carpet - 2
Small Phoenix - 1
Common Marbled Carpet - 1
Green Carpet - 6
May Highflyer - 3 (Lifer)
Clouded Border - 1
Common Pug - 2
Dingy Shell - 3 (NFY)
Yellow-barred Brindle - 1
Scorched Carpet - 1
Tawny-barred Angle - 1
Peacock Moth - 1 (Lifer)
Brown Silver-line - 15
Scorched Wing - 11
Speckled Yellow - 4 (NFY)
Peppered Moth - 1 (NFY)
Brindled Beauty - 1 (Lifer)
Pale Oak Beauty - 1 (Lifer)
Grey Birch - 2
Common White Wave - 1
Common Wave - 3
Poplar Hawk-moth - 3 (NFY)
Iron Prominent - 2
Great Prominent - 2
Coxcomb Prominent - 3
Marbled Brown - 26
Pale Tussock - 12
Orange Footman - 4
Buff Ermine - 2 (NFY)
White Ermine - 2 (NFY)
Cinnabar - 3
Flame Shoulder - 4
Angle Shades - 1
Treble Lines - 9
Mottled Rustic - 1 (NFY)
Green Silver-lines - 3 (NFY)
Nut-tree Tussock - 9
Burnished Brass - 1 (NFY)

 Burnished Brass
 Buff Ermine
 Clay Triple-lines
 Cinnabar
 Great Prominent
 Pebble Hook-tip
 Peacock Moth
 Peppered Moth
 Treble Lines
 White Ermine

I wont even mention my garden catch for the GMS last night as it was so poor, but I have sessions at two sites new to me on Wednesday and Saturday so fingers crossed for something interesting!