Saturday 25 April 2015

A quiet week...

The nights have been either very cold or very wet this week, so not too many moths making an appearance.

I have been treated to Brown House Moth and Case-bearing Clothes Moth indoors this week :(

The garden trap has been on twice, with a total score of Lunar Marbled Brown (only the second in 4 years), Clouded Drab, Common Quaker, Hebrew Character and Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.

The 6W woodland trap only got 2 Nut-tree Tussocks and an Engrailed.

Next week looks like it's going to be more of the same; I do have two big trips in the diary, but they may both be rained off :(

Saturday 18 April 2015

This weeks mothing.

My usual sites were explored this week; still a bit cold at night with the clear skies, and the wind hasn't helped but quite a few new species for the year list (these in bold). The numbers are across all sites.

Lunar Marbled Brown - 6
Hebrew Character - 16
Chestnut - 5
Eriocrania subpurpurella - 10+
Twin-spotted Quaker - 2
Common Quaker - 16
Brindled Pug - 4
Water Carpet - 4
Brimstone - 1
Clouded Drab - 4
Streamer - 1
Frosted Green - 12
Lesser Swallow Prominent - 1
Small Quaker - 2
Pine Beauty - 1
Early Thorn - 1
Brindled Beauty - 2
Nut-tree Tussock - 2
Powdered Quaker - 1
Double-striped Pug - 2
Engrailed - 1
Early Grey - 1

Also an Endocrania sp. that has been "sent off" for id, something in the Olethreutinae part of the spectrum (if it can be id'd from a photo), the larva of one of the Endothenia sp. in a teasel head, and come larval cases of Colephora laricella.

 Brindled Beauty
 Coleophora laricella case
 Frosted Green
 Lunar Marbled Brown
 Lesser Swallow Prominent
Powdered Quaker

Saturday 11 April 2015

My week in moths

Well, spring definitely seems to have arrived - at last - in South Bucks. The days have warmed up, although there have still been frosts at night.

I've run 4 traps, one in a parkland setting, 2 in the garden and one in a woodland.

Not a vast amount of moths, but at least there were new ones on each night for my year list.

Common Quaker and Hebrew Character were the most-caught, with 11 and 19 respectively across the sites.

The new species were Red Chestnut (in fact, a lifer for me), Double-striped Pug, Agonopterix ocellana, Streamer and Pine Beauty (only the second ever in the garden).

 Pine Beauty
Red Chestnut

Also appearing were Small Quaker, Early Grey, Engrailed, Oak Beauty, Clouded Drab, Emmelina monodactyla and Diurnea fagella.