WINE RACE 2016 .. MATTc380 .. TRENT 353 .. BEN 347 ...... Garden species:- Macros 357, Micros 365, Total 722

Saturday 27 September 2014

26th Sept 2014 ... Moth trap latest

Off to Norfolk today to go messing about on the river for a week.
Just posting a couple of autumn additions to the year list and updating total
24th Sept ... Beaded Chestnut
Beaded Chestnut
25th Sept ... Blair's Shoulder-knot, plus 3 more last night 26th
Blair's Shoulder-knot
26th Sept ... Mallow x 2
Mallow
26th Sept ... Brindled Green

Wednesday 24 September 2014

23rd Sept 2014 .. Yellow-line Quaker

A little earlier than in previous years, a Yellow-line Quaker braved the rain last night and was found in the soaked egg boxes ...
Yellow-line Quaker
August/September "brown" is gradually giving way to "yellow/orange" and I'm hoping to get a good selection of Sallows.
Centre-barred Sallow and Orange Sallow to date...

Red Underwing is still on my want list, but it's starting to look like a dipper this year which would be the only year it hasn't appeared in the garden.
Plutella xylostella, the Diamond-back Moth has had a good year in the garden and last night was no exception with 2 recorded ..
Plutella xylostella
22/9/2014
Best of ..
Small Ranunculus
Brimstone Moth, 2
Garden Carpet, 2
Old Lady
Lunar Underwing ...high count of 23

23/9/2014
Full list
2, Plutella xylostella
2, Epiphyas postvittana
1, Agriphila geniculea
1, Eudonia angustea
2, Emmelina monodactyla
2, Small Dusty Wave
Small Dusty Wave
2, Garden Carpet
1, Double-striped Pug
1, Brimstone Moth
6, Willow Beauty
2, Turnip Moth
7, Shuttle-shaped Dart
12, Large Yellow Underwing
5, Leser Yellow Underwing
1, Setaceous Hebrew Character
1, Square-spot Rustic
1, Large Ranunculus
Large Ranunculus
1, Yellow-line Quaker, year first
28, Lunar Underwing, high count
1, Marbled Beauty
4, Angle Shades
Angle Shades

1, Large Wainscot, 2nd for year
4, Pale Mottled Willow





Monday 22 September 2014

21st Sept 2014 ... Givin' it Large

Much cooler last night with min temp at 6.8 deg C.
Two more for the year list ...
Large Wainscot
Brown-spot Pinion
Best of the Rest ...
Old Lady
Orange Sallow
Rosy Rustic
Light Emerald
Cabbage Moth
Nutmeg
Common Marbled (1) and Garden Carpet (3)
Large Yellow Underwings are looking worse for wear now but are still present in numbers, 18 last night.
Lunar Underwing numbers have increased, along with Shuttle-shaped Dart, 24 and 12 respectively.
Of the few micros, Celypha striana and a female Parapoynx stratiotata were the pick of the crop.
Agriphila geniculea numbers are now very low, just one was recorded from last night.

Sunday 21 September 2014

19th Sept 2014 ... Dotted Rustic

My 2nd Dotted Rustic for the garden, the previous one was in 2012 when about half a dozen were trapped locally

Dotted Rustic


Friday 19 September 2014

18th Sept 2014 ... Moth Traps catch list

A very warm evening, 16 deg with cloud cover and high humidity.
A sharp shower during the night soaked the egg boxes in the traps but there were some interesting moths present.
A year first Deep-brown Dart was a good find as they are scarce in my garden.
Deep-brown Dart
And a probable year last Swallow-tailed Moth was unexpected.
Swallow-tailed Moth
The Catch:-
Caloptillia rufipennella, 1
Cameraria ohridella, 10
Plutella xylostella, 6
Carcina quercana, 4
Clepsis consimilana, 1
Epiphyas postvittana, 2
Acleris variegana, 3
Agriphila geniculea, 3
Eudonia angustea, 2
Hypsopygia costalis, 1
Emmelina monodactyla, 3

Small Emerald, 1
Small Blood-vein, 2
Small Dusty Wave, 1
Garden Carpet, 1
Yellow Shell, 1
Grey Pine Carpet, 1
Swallow-tailed Moth, 1
Willow Beauty, 6
Light Emerald, 1
Turnip Moth, 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart, 5
Large Yellow Underwing, 30
Lesser Yellow Underwing, 9
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character, 4
Square-spot Rustic, 3
Small Ranunculus, 1
Nutmeg, 1
Common Wainscot, 4
Deep-brown Dart, year first, 1
Lunar Underwing, 13
Angle Shades, 2
Vine's Rustic, 4
Pale Mottled Willow, 12

I've always had a soft spot for Hedgehogs, so I was thrilled to see 3 babies that had ventured forth from the compost heap for their first forage around the garden

All were returned to the nearby nest after the photo shoot and I will have to be careful where I tread for a few nights.

Grey Pine Carpet
Thanks Ben Sale .... I originally posted the above as Spruce Carpet 

Tuesday 16 September 2014

15th Sept 2014 .. New macro for garden

Pinion-streaked Snout has been on my want list for a while now so it was nice to find one in the trap this morning.
With its
small size and Ephestia-like stance it could easily be mistaken for a micro moth.



Green Carpet, Small Emerald and Small Blood-vein, all fresh, were recorded over the last two nights,, and a year first Large Ranunculus joined two Small Ranunculus.
Little and Large ... Large Ranunculus and Small Ranunculus
The Wine Race ...
Started in 2010, between myself and Matt Burgess who traps about 3 miles away, the most garden moth species recorded in a year wins a bottle wine from the loser.
Last year we were joined by Ben Sale who traps about 15 miles down the road in Stevenage.
To be fair, Ben tends to go out in the field on good mothing nights covering a wide range of sites to the detriment of his garden tally, but sportingly hits his kick with a bottle of the fermented grape.
Now that he is a married man we are expecting more competitive garden totals from his traps as he won't be allowed out so much. Oops, my tongue just got stuck in my cheek !
The previous 4 years have seen overwhelming victories for the Upper Caldicote traps of Matt B, but the 2014 "race" could be closer than a Scottish referendum poll now that my micro gen det results are in from David Manning, our county micro recorder.
15 site first micro's for my garden list along with 23 year first species was more than I could have hoped for .... the gloves are well and truly off.
Here is the "site first" list ...
0493..Coleophora serratella ..15th July
0946..Aethes rubigana .. 15th July
1268..Cydia coniferana .. 15th July
1284..Dichrorampha vancouverana .. 15th July
0566..Coleophora sternipennella .. 17th July
0844..Syncopacma larseniella .. 17th July
0304..Parornix devoniella .. 18th July
0724..Metzneria lappella .. 18th July
1287..Dichrorampha aeratana .. 19th July
0736..Monochroa lucidella .. 20th July
0315..Phyllonorycter harrisella .. 26th July
0866..Brachmia blandella .. 26th July
1208..Pseudococcyx posticana .. 26th July
0305..Parornix scoticella .. 27th July
0678..Depressaria sordidatella .. 28th Aug

Thursday 11 September 2014

Latest garden moths

Large Yellow Underwing numbers have dropped to double figures over the last few days due to cooler nights and a full moon in the clear sky.
Still plenty of Square-spot Rustic and Flounced Rustic
On the 8th Sept the first Lunar Underwing turned up, soon to become the most numerous moths in the traps.
Lunar Underwing
The Agonopterix below is a little worn but it looks like A. nervosa. (tbc)
Agonopterix nervosa
 A steady stream of autumn Small Blood-vein, lots of fresh Garden Carpet and the smaller 2nd or 3rd generation Brimstone Moths and Willow Beauty are coming through.
Other 2nd generation singles include Oak Hook-tip, Treble-bar, Small Square-spot, Common Marbled Carpet and Campion.
Oak Hook-tip
Treble-bar
Small Square-spot
Common Marbled Carpet
Campion
Orange Sallow added a splash of colour in the trap, second record this year
Orange Sallow









Saturday 6 September 2014

5th Sep 2014 ... Garden Moths latest

On the previous evening, a Black Rustic turned up to (un)officially announce the beginning of Autumn and last night a Centre-barred Sallow arrived to confirm it ...
Centre-barred Sallow
Once again 150 - 200 Large Yellow Underwing's coated the traps and egg boxes and even though I rid the garden of 80 - 100 at a time they just keep coming.
The Catch:-
2 x Cameraria ohridella
1 x Plutella xylostella
2 x Endrosis sarcitrella
1 x Carcina quercana
1 x Endothenia marginana
Endothenia marginana

3 x Epiphyas postvittana
5 x Acleris variegana
1 x Eudonia angustea
20+ Agriphila geniculea
3 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Coleophora sp to be identified
1 x Chinese Character
1 x Small Dusty Wave
1 x Single-dotted Wave
Single-dotted Wave

3 x Light Emerald
2 x Lime-speck Pug
2 x Double-striped Pug
8 x Willow Beauty
2 x Brimstone
16 x Orange Swift
3 x Yellow Shell
9 x Garden Carpet
150+ Large Yellow Underwing
4 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
2 x Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
1 x Lesser B-b Y U
7 x Setaceous Hebrew Character
18 x Square-spot Rustic
3 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
6 x Flounced Rustic
2 x Turnip Moth
2 x Copper Underwing agg.
1 x Straw Underwing
1 x Ruby Tiger
5 x Small Ranunculus
Small Ranunculus
2 x Rosy Rustic
1 x Cabbage Moth
1 x Old Lady
Old Lady
1 x Centre-barred Sallow, year first
4 x Marbled Beauty
14 x Vine's Rustic
12 x Pale Mottled Willow1 x Silver Y
1 x Burnished Brass f. juncta
1 x Snout
3 x Angle Shades
Angle Shades

Friday 5 September 2014

Black Rustic, that's the summer gone.

The first Black Rustic appeared in the traps this morning which is the official start to autumn, you don't need a calendar ...
Black Rustic
Around 50 Cameraria ohridella were relishing the warm, humid conditions and finding a Lyonetia clerkella amongst them was no mean feat.
A new for year micro, Catoptria falsella, stood out in the crowd of Agriphila geniculea ...
Catoptria falsella
Little else to get excited about.
150 - 200 Large Yellow Underwing has become the norm lately and I won' be sorry to see the back of them
My least liked moth ..Large Yellow Underwing
Pick of the rest ...
2 x Rosy Rustic
1 x Common Marbled Carpet
3 x Light Emerald
1 x Small Blood-vein
1 x Angle Shades
2 x Old Lady
1 x Snout
1 x Silver Y
1 x Mouse Moth
1 x Lime-speck Pug
1 x Pyrausta aurata
1 x Nephopterix angustella

Small Blood-vein

Lime-speck Pug

Nephopterix angustella

Thursday 4 September 2014

Micros return

The garden traps yielded the usual mass of Large Yellow Underwing's with 150 at least. I didn't count them this morning.
Some decent micros were recorded for a change, they have been very thin on the ground of late especially throughout the cold August.
Monopis obviella
Cameraria ohridella
Bucculatrix nigricomella
Carcina quercana
Dichrorampha simpliciana (to be confirmed)
Cacoecimorpha pronubana
Coleophora trifolii
Acleris variegana
Eudonia angustea
Epiphyas postvittana
Emmelina monodactyla
plus several Diamond-back Moth's, Plutella xylostella which have been abundant this year.
Bucculatrix nigricomella
Cameraria ohridella
Dichrorampha simpliciana
Coleophora trifolii
Eudonia angustea
Cacoecimorpha pronubana
Of the macros, Yellow-barred Brindle, Old Lady and a Small Blood-vein were about the pick of the bunch.
Some fresh Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings (females) have been appearing over the last couple of nights and Common Wainscot numbers are increasing with 7 recorded in the traps this morning.
A fresh Small Blood-vein with wing damage
Yellow-barred Brindle
Light Emerald
Old Lady