11th June ... Warmer weather ramps up garden moth catch

The last few nights have been rubbish, just too cold, but June is an unpredictable month weather-wise.
The warmer weather last night boosted the species count to 33 compared with 11 species on the 8th, 21 on the 9th and 15 on the 10th.
Tonight is set to be warmer still, so if those isolated thunderstorms keep away, it might be an interesting mothy night.
The catch :-
0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 1
0648 Endrosis sarcitrella, 2
0893 Mompha epilobiella, 1
0994 Clepsis consimilana, 3, year first

Clepsis consimilana, male

0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 2
1174 Epiblema cynosbatella, 1
1356 Evergestis forficalis, 1
1361 Pyrausta aurata, 1
1428 Aphomia sociella, 1
1474 Ephestia unicolorella, 1

Ephestia unicolorella

1682 Blood-vein, 1, year first

Blood-vein

1728 Garden Carpet, 6
1764 Common Marbled Carpet, 1
1834 Common Pug, 2
1906 Brimstone Moth, 1
1937 Willow Beauty, 3
1958 Clouded Silver, 1, year first

Clouded Silver

1961 Light Emerald, 1
2028 Pale Tussock, 1
2043 Orange Footman, 1
2089 Heart and Dart, 14
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 1
2107 Large Yellow Underwing, 1
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character, 1
2160 Bright-line Brown-eye, 1
2199 Common Wainscot, 1
2284x Dark/Grey Dagger agg. 1
2321 Dark Arches, 1
2331 Small Clouded Brindle, 1, year first

Small Clouded Brindle

2333 Large Nutmeg, 2
2337x Marbled Minor agg. 2
2384 Vine's Rustic, 5
2387 Mottled Rustic, 1, year first

Mottled Rustic

Pale Mottled Willow, 3

30th Oct 2014 ... Halloween Blood-vein

The silly season continues around the moth traps with late season moths turning up, except for the ones I've dipped out on !

 Blood-vein 30th Oct 2014

This Blood-vein is probably another "latest" record for VC30.
Last nights catch was disappointing given the warm, humid conditions.
The minimum temperature was 13 deg C and there is talk on the Weather Forecast of 21 degrees today in the London area which would beat the previous high by 1 deg.
The catch:-
Blastobasis lacticolella, 1
Epiphyas postvittana, 7
Emmelina monodactyla, 3
Red-green Carpet, 1
Blood-vein, 1
Blair's Shoulder-knot, 2
Yellow-line Quaker, 1
Beaded Chestnut, 1
Satellite, 1
Angle Shades, 2

One hundred and EIGHTY !

Large Yellow Underwing's that is.
My two garden traps were infested with them.
Admittedly I crammed in more egg boxes to cater for them in the hope there would be enough room for anything else.

As it happens, there were other species, the pick of the bunch was a second Peacock Moth for the year

Peacock Moth

A Blood-vein on the trap glass was a nice find, unfortunately it flew off before I could pot it up for a better photo.

Blood-vein

A late Buff Ermine wasn't expected ...

Buff Ermine

... a very fresh one at that.
And the biggest slug I have ever seen was lurking near one of the traps.
It looks like a Spanish slug that has recently colonised the UK and is spreading across East Anglia at a rapid rate.
Hopefully it is not, but it fits the criteria, and these creatures could spell bad news.

Spanish Slug ?

Spanish Slug ?

Here is an excerpt from the Express 19th Oct 2013

Spanish slug invasion: Hybrid super slug could be biggest threat EVER to UK crops.

The article reads ...

According to experts, the huge Spanish slug which is invading gardens and farms across the country could breed with the native British slug to produce a super-hybrid which can survive both hot and cold climes.

The unbeatable slug will also be unaffected by slug pellets and farming chemicals.

Spanish slugs, or Arion vulgaris, can grow up to 6 inches in length and have become one of the most widely reported pests of both commercial crops and home gardens.

Tristan Maclean, a scientist from the John Innes Centre in Norwich warned that if the Spanish slug does breed with the normal British garden slug, Britain's farming industry would be facing a huge problem.

He said on BBC Breakfast: "I think the big concern is that potentially they could spread across the country and maybe take on some of the traits, if they hybridise and combine with native slugs that give them frost tolerance.

"They produce lots of slime to cope with warm conditions and if they breed they will be able to cope with colder conditions as well, we're looking at a slug that can really effect foodsecurity."

Spanish Slugs are known to produce twice as many eggs as slugs native to the UK and have an extensive omnivorous diet which includes excrement, dead animals and crops that aren’t normally susceptible to slug feeding.

They have even been known to eat each other at times, pushing out other slug and snail species to dominate an area, due to large size and high population density.

Dr Ian Bedford, head of entomology at the John Innes Centre added: "It’s about understanding your enemy,” he says. “We know so little about this species. We think they’re spreading through Europe, and causing problems for crops, but it’s all anecdotal at the moment, so we need to do research.

“We’ve only been able to confirm Arion vulgaris is in East Anglia so far. It is possible it has spread wider afield but without a taxonomic analysis we cannot say.”

A number of scientists are calling for members of the general public to report sightings of the Spanish slug to deal with the rising numbers.

For more go to www.slugwatch.co.uk

25th Sept 2013 ... Beaded Chestnut et al

Another warm overcast night and a good selection of moths around the traps....
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella
0985 ... Cacoecimrpha pronubana x 2
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana x 9
1048 ... Acleris variegana
1342 ... Eudonia angustea x 3
1413 ... Hypsopygia costalis
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla x 3
1682 ... Blood-vein

Blood-vein

1707 ... Small Dusty Wave x 3
1728 ... Garden Carpet x 6
1764 ... Common Marbled Carpet x 2

1764 ... Common Marbled Carpet

1769 ... Spruce Carpet

1769 ... Spruce Carpet

1776 ... Green Carpet

1776 ... Green Carpet

1862 ... Double-striped Pug x 2
1937 ... Willow Beauty x 14
1961 ... Light Emerald x 2
2087 ... Turnip Moth x 5
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart x 2
2102 ... Flame Shoulder
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing x 50*
2109 ... Lesser Yellow Underwing x 20*
2110 ... Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x 2
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character x 30*
2232 ... Black Rustic x 11
2134 ... Square-spot Rustic x 4
2165 ... Small Ranunculus

LITTLE and LARGE ..... Small and Large Ranunculus

2240 ... Blair's Shoulder-knot x 12
2248 ... Brindled Green ... YF

2248 ... Brindled Green

2252 ... Large Ranunculus x 5
2266 ... Brown-spot Pinion
2267 ... Beaded Chestnut x 2 ... YF

2267 ... Beaded Chestnut

2270 ... Lunar Underwing x 20*
2272 ... Barred Sallow ... YF

2272 ... Barred Sallow

2274 ... The Sallow ... YF

2274 ... The Sallow

2300 ... Old Lady
2306 ... Angle Shades x 4
2353 ... Flounced Rustic x 3
2384 ... Vine's Rustic x 9
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow x 20*
2477 ... The Snout

* Conservative estimate

17th June 2013 ... Great start .. Tragic end

The latest "best night of the year so far" started with some sweep netting on my overgrown front lawn.
Tall grasses and a lot of Ox-eye Daisies are present and our micro recorder suggested a sweep as he had found some of the scarcer Dichrorampha on his ox-eye.
One Dichrorampha, probably "plumbagana", turned up with a Carnation Tortrix, an unidentified micro and a garden first Nettle-tap....

385 ... Anthophila fabriciana ... Nettle-tap

After recording a big selection of moths throughout the evening around the traps it was time for shut-eye and a check inside the traps in the morning.
The tragic part was after I had checked the house end trap, I moved on to the BBQ end trap.
Bearing in mind the skinner trap near the barbie has a 23mm slot, it was amazing to see a House Sparrow had forced it's way into the trap. Not only that, two more appeared from behind egg boxes !!!
I released the flock ? (how many birds make a flock ? more than two ?) and checked the trap....it was carnage !
One set of wings belonged to a Privet Hawk-moth, with several Heart and Dart and many others.

New for Year moths .........

216 ... Cork Moth ... Nemapogon cloacella

746 ... Chrysoesthia drurella

1392 ... Udea olivalis

1958 ... Clouded Silver ... Lomographa temerata

1955 ... Common White Wave ... Cabera pusaria

1902 ... Brown Silver-line ... Petrophora chlorosata

1768 ... Grey Pine Carpet ... Thera obeliscata

1991 ... Elephant Hawk-moth ... Deilephila elpenor

1682 ... Blood-vein ... Timandra cornae

11th Sept.......Waiting for the autumn arrivals

A perfect mothing night, no moon, no wind, but strangely quiet. A nice variety though but no new moths. The only "pulse raiser" was the large Hawker dragonfly. The Autumn flyers are still waiting in the wings so to speak.
...................................................
A Tortrix, Chequered fruit tree maybe

BURNISHED BRASS

THE SNOUT

BLOOD-VEIN

RUSTIC/UNCERTAIN ?????

19th July......Perfect !

Perfect conditions produced 50 species of Macro moth. Two garden "firsts".
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WHITE-LINE DART.....confirmed by recorders....Thanks Melissa..That old white line is a friend of mine and it's good times we bin makin'. Right now I'm rolling down the road and the daylight will soon be breakin'.......White Line, by Neil Young 1973
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GOTHIC....garden first

BLOODVEIN......first for year