29th May 2014 .. More "year first" moths

A good night for the garden traps with 40 species of moth recorded.
Heart and Dart have replaced Shuttle-shaped Dart as the most numerous species in the traps.
Two more Toadflax Brocade were in the traps making 12 for the year and fast approaching last years high count of 17.
The first grass moth was recorded last night, Crambus lathoniellus, and a year first Common Footman which will shortly infest the traps.
Dark Arches x 3 and an Elephant Hawk-moth completed the year newbies ...

1301, Crambus lathoniellus

Below
1991, Elephant Hawk-moth

Below
2050, Common Footman

Below
Dark Arches

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

26th June 2012 ... Dot co.

16 deg min. warm, humid with a moderate breeze
A few more newcomers for the year were recorded last night, Dot Moth, Double Square-spot, Elephant Hawk-moth, Bordered Pug, Dwarf Cream Wave, Middle-barred Minor, Toadflax Pug and Least Carpet.
Epiblema uddmanniana was the latest micro....is it still an Epiblema ? The new micro book has thrown me a bit !
Just checked..... it has become a Notocelia.
Notoproblem

Notocelia uddmanniana

0229 Monopis obviella 1
0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella 6
0787 Bryotropha terrella 2
0994 Clepsis consimilana 4
0998 Epipiphyas postvittana 1
1175 Epiblema uddmanniana 1 ... (Notocelia udd.) year first
1159 Rhopobota naevana .. Holly Tortrix 1, year first
1261 Cydia pomonella 2
1301 Crambus lathoniellus 8
1344 Eudonia mercurella 2
1474 Ephestia parasitella 10
1481 Homoeosoma sinuella 2
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1690 Small Blood-vein 1
1699 Least Carpet 2, year first (Below)

Least Carpet

1705 Dwarf Cream Wave 1, year first (Below)

1707 Small Dusty Wave 1
1713 Riband Wave 1
1728 Garden Carpet 2
1742 Yellow Shell 2
1816 Toadflax Pug 2, year first (Below)

1827 Freyer's Pug 3
1834 Common Pug 11
1837 Grey Pug 1
1839 Bordered Pug 1, year first
1860 Green Pug 1
1931 Peppered Moth 1
1937 Willow Beauty 5
1991 Elephant Hawk-moth 1, Year first (Below)

2050 Common Footman 4
2061 Buff Ermine 1
2087 Turnip Moth 3
2088 Heart & Club 6
2089 Heart & Dart 17
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart 2
2098 Flame 4
2107 Large Yellow Underwing 9
2109 Lesser Yellow Underwing 2
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
2128 Double Square-spot 2, year first
2154 Cabbage Moth 1
2155 Dot Moth 1, year first (Below)

2170 Varied Coronet 1
2278 Poplar Grey 2
2302 Brown Rustic 1, (Below) 

2321 Dark Arches 22
2322 Light Arches 2
2333 Large Nutmeg 16
2337agg. Marbled Minor 7
2340 Middle-barred Minor 1, year first
2381 Uncertain 8
2389 Pale Mottled Willow 5
2434 Burnished Brass 1
2441 Silver Y 2
2489 Fan-foot 4


4 unidentified micros for the Recorder

6th June 2011....Argy bargy, new county micro

Star moth from last nights garden trapping was undoubtedly this Argyresthia cupressella 409b. Originating in Western United States and first noted here in 1997. This is the first VC30 record. Many thanks to county micro recorder David Manning for confirming the ID and the information on the species. A garden first Hawthorn Moth, Scythropia crataegella 0450 ALEIMMA LOEFLINGIANA 1032 caught at 10.32 coincidentally ! EUDONIA MERCURELLA 1344....... year first visitor ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH 1991.... year first record Caught using the "laid back" method, a Timothy Tortrix.

APHELIA PALEANA 0989 My second BARRED STRAW 1758 6th June :-

2 x Buff Ermine

29 x Heart & Dart

3 x Marbled Minor agg.

1 x Riband Wave

1 x Common Emerald

1 x Green Silver-lines

2 x Grey Dagger agg.

2 x Turnip Moth

2 x Dark Arches

1 x Elephant Hawk-moth * year first

1 x Scalloped Hazel

1 x Barred Straw

1 x Garden Carpet

2 x The Flame

1 x The Snout

3 x Mottled Rustic

1 x Brimstone Moth

1 x Common Footman

3 x Cinnabar

1 x Peppered Moth

6 x Large Nutmeg

4 x Willow Beauty

1 x The Miller

8 x Uncertain

1 x Brown Rustic

1 x Small Dusty Wave

3 x Double-striped Pug

3 x Common or Grey Pug ( I really can't tell them apart )

4 x Emmelina monodactyla

2 x Hofmannophila pseudospretella

3 x Aphemia sociella

4 x Ephestia parasitella

1 x Epiphyas postvittana

1 x Aleimma loeflingiana * year first

1 x Aphelia paleana

1 x Evergestis forficalis

1 x Crambus perlella * year first

1 x Celypha striana

1 x Ditula angustiorana

2 x Eurrypara hortulata

1 x Argyresthia cupressella *** VC30 County first

1 x Eudonia mercurella * year first

3 x Chrysoteuchia culmella

1 x Crambus pascuella

4 x Bryotropha tedella

2 x Pempeliella dilutella

1 x Blastodacna hellerella

1 x Scythropia crataegella * garden first

Garden running total :

222 species.....131 macro, 91 micro

July 3rd.......V-Day

Another great night for "mothing". Three more garden firsts and a good selection found in and around the 3 traps. 60+ species found. Here are a few of the macro moths from last night, I haven't started sorting out the PUGS and the micros yet.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
V-PUG.....garden first

Three Lackeys in the traps including a worn, plain "rosy" coloured example.

..............................

LACKEY

CLOAKED MINOR ....1st garden record

ELEPHANT HAWKMOTH....a regular capture

SMALL RANUNCULUS......3 found on the walls around the traps

The beautiful CINNABAR MOTH

BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE

FAN-FOOT

BUFF ARCHES....4th record

SMOKY WAINSCOT.....garden first.

YELLOW-BAR

PEPPERED MOTH

FIGURE of 80

EARLY THORN

BROWN-TAIL JUST A FEW OF THE 60 OR SO SPECIES FROM LAST NIGHT. Hope you are enjoying the photos, thanks for looking.

Last nights list:-

20+ Common Footman

20+ Dark Arches

10+ Flame

10 Buff Ermine

8 Willow Beauty

8 Uncertain

8 Riband Wave

7 Marbled Minor agg.

6 Light Arches

6 Grey/Dark Dagger

4 Scarce Footman

3 Least Carpet

3 Miller

3 Dot Moth

3 Toadflax Pug

3 Peppered Moth

3 Lackey

3 Small Emerald

3 Small Ranunculus

2 Marbled Beauty

2 Garden Carpet

2 Dwarf Cream Wave

2 Swallow-tailed Moth

2 Large Yellow Underwing

2 Cinnabar Moth

2 Pale Prominent

2 Elephant Hawkmoth

V-Pug

Snout

Treble Brown-spot

Sycamore

Clouded Border

Bright-line Brown-eye

Early Thorn

Barred Yellow

Varied Coronet

Common Wainscot

Smoky Wainscot

Fan-foot

Brown-tail

Figure of 80

Double Square-spot

Broad-barred White

Maple Prominent

Clouded Silver

Single-dotted Wave

Privet Hawkmoth

Cloaked Minor

Mottled Rustic

5th June.....Shear Luck ?

Another 30 plus species night despite the rain,
...................................................
MOTTLED PUG

PALE TUSSOCK

originally had this as a Marbled Minor agg but keen-eyed Matt Burgess correctly pointed out that it is a MOTTLED RUSTIC .

PEPPERED MOTH

SMALL SQUARE-SPOT

WHITE ERMINE

TAWNY SHEARS

SILVER Y

MILLER

ELEPHANT HAWKMOTH 30 plus more species with a couple to be confirmed:-

19 x Heart & Dart

7 x Shuttle-shaped Dart

3 x Willow Beauty

3 x Marbled Minor agg.

2 x Miller

2 x White Ermine Garden first
2 x Common Marbled Carpet

2 x Setaceous Hebrew Character

2 x Pale Mottled Willow

2 x Treble Lines

2 x Turnip Moth

2 x Large Nutmeg

Mottled Rustic Garden first

Lime Hawkmoth

Elephant Hawkmoth Garden first

Chinese Character

Silver Y first for year

Mottled Pug

Common Pug

Flame Shoulder

Bright-line Brown-eye

Small square-spot Garden first

Tawny Shears Garden first

Vine's Rustic

some more micros to be identified