Garden moths update

Just when we thought the weather was warming up ...
6 deg last night and 7 the night before.
Not much to get excited about in the traps.
The first Privet Hawk-moth arrived on the 5th and the highlights for yesterday/last night was a Hobby that hurtled through just above roof-top height, giving good views of the face pattern as it flew towards the afternoon sun and a couple of year firsts for the moth traps.
Last nights catch :-
1 x 0229 Monopis obviella
1 x 0808 Platyedra subcinerea
2 x 1063 Celypha striana, year first

Celypha striana

1 x 1728 Garden Carpet
1 x 1768 Grey Pine Carpet, year first

Grey Pine Carpet

3 x 1834 Common Pug
1 x 1936 Waved Umber

Waved Umber

1 x 1937 Willow Beauty
1 x 2069 Cinnabar
1 x 2087 Turnip Moth
8 x 2089 Heart and Dart
6 x 2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart
3 x 2223 Toadflax Brocade
1 x 2333 Large Nutmeg
1 x 2389 Pale Mottled Willow

Below:-
Privet Hawk-moth from 5th June ... year first

Privet Hawk-moth

2nd June 2014 ... Garden Moth species list

60 + species recorded last night from the garden traps.
The Catch :-
0125 ... Catoptriche marginea, 1, year first

0229 ... Monopis obviella, 4
0263 ... Lyonetia clerkella, 4
409a ... Argyresthia trifasciata, 1
0647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 2
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella, 3
0808 ... Platyedra subcinerea, 1
870x ... Oegoconia sp. 1, year first (for gen-det)
0964 ... Cochylis dubitana, 1
0994 ... Clepsis consimilana, 2
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana, 4
1010 ... Ditula angustiorana, 2, year first

1076 ... Celypha lacunana, 1, year first

1133 ... Epinotia bilunana, 1
1301 ... Crambus lathoniellus, 2
1334 ... Scoparis ambigualis, 1, year first

1361 ... Pyrausta aurata, 3
1376 ... Eurrhypara hortulata, 2
1428 ... Aphomia sociella, 4
1470 ... Euzophera pinguis, 1, year first

1474 ... Ephestia parasitella unicolorella
1654 ... Figure of Eighty, 1, year first

1711 ... Treble Brown Spot,1
1727 ... Silver-ground Carpet, 1
1728 ... Garden Carpet, 4
1764 ... Common Marbled Carpet, 1
1768 ... Grey Pine Carpet, 1, year first

1781 ... Small Waved Umber, 1
1807 ... Grass Rivulet, 1, year first

1817 ... Foxglove Pug, 1
1819 ... Mottled Pug, 2
1827 ... Freyer's Pug, 1
1834 ... Common Pug, 4
1837 ... Grey Pug, 2
1860 ... Green Pug, 1
1906 ... Brimstone Moth, 2
1937 ... Willow Beauty, 2
1981 ... Poplar Hawk-moth, 1
1991 ... Elephant Hawk-moth, 1
2009 ... Maple Prominent, 1, year first

2043 ... Orange Footman, 1
2050 ... Common Footman, 2
2069 ... Buff Ermine, 1
2087 ... Turnip Moth, 4
2089 ... Heart and Dart, 30
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart, 12
2098 ... Flame, 3
2102 ... Flame Shoulder, 1
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing, 1
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2
2154 ... Cabbage Moth, 1
2157 ... Light Brocade, 1
2167 ... Tawny Shears, 1
2170 ... Varied Coronet, 1
2199 ... Common Wainscot, 2
2321 ... Dark Arches, 3
2333 ... Large Nutmeg, 4
2337X. Marbled Minor agg, 8
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow, 3
2441 ... Silver Y, 1
2477 ... Snout
Plus 2 or 3 for ID

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

24th Oct. 2012 .. Garden Traps

!2+ deg most of the night and the mizzle didn't arrive until the early hours of the morning.
A Grey Pine Carpet was a year first and an Acleris which needs a positive ID

1 .. 0464 .. Plutella xylostella, Diamond-back Moth
1 .. 0647 .. Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Brown House Moth
6 .. 0998 .. Epiphyas postvittana, Light Brown Apple Moth
1 .. 10** .. Acleris ........................ schalleriana ? variegana ?  both laterana and comariana have similar forms ...

1 .. 1524 .. Emmelina monodactyla, Common Plume
1 .. 1768 .. Grey Pine Carpet ...

1 .. 1769 .. Spruce Carpet
3 .. 1937 .. Willow Beauty
1 .. 2107 .. Large Yellow Underwing
8 .. 2109 .. Lesser Yellow Underwing
5 .. 2126 .. Setaceous Hebrew Character
5 .. 2240 .. Blair's Shoulder-knot
1 .. 2259 .. Dark Chestnut
1 .. 2261 .. Yellow-line Quaker
1 .. 2263 .. Red-line Quaker
1 .. 2267 .. Beaded Chestnut
1 .. 2384 .. Vine's Rustic
1 .. 2389 .. Pale Mottled Willow
1 .. 2441 .. Silver Y

31st May 2012 ... Good end to month

Overnight low 13.3 deg. cloudy
The month ended on a high with 45 species in and around the garden traps, including 11 additions to the year list.

17 Common Swift Hepialus lupulinus 1
229 Monopis obviella 1
647 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella 3
648 White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis sarcitrella 3
779 Bryotropha affinis 1
808 Platyedra subcinerea 2
974 Argyrotaenia ljungiana 1
998 Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana 3
1063 Celypha striana 1, year first
1133 Epinotia bilunana 1 year first (Below)

1174 Epiblema cynosbatella 2
1428 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella 3
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1728 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata 5
1768 Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata 1 year first (Below)

1776 Green Carpet Colostygia pectinataria 4
1819 Mottled Pug Eupithecia exiguata 1
1825 Lime-speck Pug Eupithecia centaureata 1
1834 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata 7
1860 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata 2, year first (Below)

1906 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata 3
1920 Scalloped Hazel Odontopera bidentata 1
1937 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria 4
1958 Clouded Silver Lomographa temerata 1, year first (Below)

1961 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata 1, year first (Below)

2000 Iron Prominent Notodonta dromedarius 1
2006 Lesser Swallow Prominent Pheosia gnoma 1, year first (Below)

2011 Pale Prominent Pterostoma palpina 1, year first (Below)

2028 Pale Tussock Calliteara pudibunda 1
2060 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda 1, year first (Below)

2087 Turnip Moth Agrotis segetum 8
2089 Heart & Dart Agrotis exclamationis 4, (Below)

2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta 15
2102 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta 1
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum 1
2154 Cabbage Moth Mamestra brassicae 2
2173 The Lychnis Hadena bicruris 1
2223 Toadflax Brocade Calophasia lunula 1
2333 Large Nutmeg Apamea anceps 2
2380 Treble Lines Charanyca trigrammica 4
2381 The Uncertain Hoplodrina alsines 7
2283/4 Dark/Grey Dagger Acronicta tridens/psi agg.1
 2387 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus 1, year first (Below)

2389 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis 8
2418 Cream-bordered Green Pea Earias clorana 1, year first (Below)

2441 Silver Y Autographa gamma 4

8th Oct 2011

Min overnight temp...11.7de4g,  Rain
No traps were set due to constant rain, but an actinic 15watt was switched on to illuminate the shed wall.
Checked the shed at first light and found 5 moths of 5 species.
Also found another mine on the raspberry leaves complete with larva which is the 200th micro recorded in the Dells garden since 2010. Emmetia marginea, BF 0125.
1 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
1 x Black Rustic
1 x Angle Shades
1 x Grey Pine Carpet, unconfirmed
1 x Hypsopygia costalis, Gold Triangle
1 x Emmetia marginea,,, raspberry leaf mine *garden first




Grey Pine Carpet ?




Gold Triangle, Hypsopygia costalis

2011 Garden totals:-
242 macro
182 micro

22nd Sept...Pair of Shades

Min overnight temp...8.1 deg. slight breeze
Nothing new but nice catch.
The pair of shades refers to the two Angle Shades caught last night.
A Rosy Rustic, Large Ranunculus, a rather worn Centre-barred Sallow, Grey Pine Carpet, two Black Rustics, Light Emerald and Orange Swift were the pick of the crop, plus the usual.
A Common Marbled Carpet that was different to the reddish/brown panelled variety that I normally get, had me going for a moment.
A second Rusty Dot Pearl, Udea ferrugalis was recorded.



Common Marbled Carpet



Grey Pine Carpet

9th Sept 2011...Another down, 5 to go

Overnight min temp 15deg, calmish.
Warm night, little wind =  new for year moth.

                                          GREY PINE CARPET
224 macro, 171 micro
just 5 more to join the 400 club !

28th April 2011...Royal Wedding

It would have been appropriate to blog a few Royal related moths today, I checked the traps this morning but nothing doing.
How about a Coronet with a few Emeralds, Some White Ermine with a Royal Mantle would have been nice.
The royal coach flanked by Common Footmen, and lots of Waves from the Many Lined streets.
In the evening a possible sighting of a Small Rivulet and a Maidens Blush.
That's enough of that......Last night was windy and wet but I still managed to trap 41 moths of 10 species, with 2 new ticks for The Dells garden.
ENARMONIA FORMOSANA 1216 Cherry-bark Moth

A regular visitor to the lights and a stunner !

GREY PINE CARPET 1768, a year first

POWDERED QUAKER 2186....regular, almost nightly at this time of year.

COMMON PUG 1834 Totals :-

28 x Shuttle-shaped Dart

4 x Pale Mottled Willow

2 x Turnip Moth

Small Waved Umber

Hebrew Character

Powdered Quaker

Grey Pine Carpet *year first

Common Pug

Flame Shoulder

Enarmonia formosana *year first

The garden total now stands at 95 species, with 60 macros and 35 micros. (see pages, top left of blog for macro/micro lists)

20th June....Sandy Carpet in Biggleswade ?????

Best nights "mothing" for a while, with temperatures only dropping to 12 deg C .... 41 species of macro moths were recorded which is a record number. The explaination for the blog heading, to anyone not familiar with this part of Bedfordshire, SANDY is our neighbouring town, about 3 miles up the A1 from Biggleswade.
...........................................
SANDY CARPET (garden first)

BARRED YELLOW (garden first)

MEAL MOTH (garden first for this cracking micro)

GREY PINE CARPET (first for year)

UNCERTAIN (I think !) another first

an early COMMON FOOTMAN (first for year)

DARK ARCHES

LIGHT ARCHES (first for year)

SMALL BLOODVEIN (first for year)

COMMON EMERALD (first for year) RESULTS:-

12 x Heart & Dart

10 x Willow Beauty

5 x Garden Carpet

5 x Marbled Minor agg

4 x Common Marbled Carpet

4 x Large Yellow Underwing

4 x Green Pug

4 x Flame

3 x Turnip Moth

3 x Brimstone Moth

3 x Uncertain **

2 x Wormwood Pug

2 x Common Pug

2 x Barred Yellow **

2 x Broad-barred White

2 x Peppered Moth

2 x Dark Arches

2 x Grey/Dark Dagger

2 x Pale Mottled Willow

2 x Setaceous Hebrew Character

2 x Rustic Shoulder-knot

2 x Privet Hawkmoth

Lime Hawkmoth

Elephant Hawkmoth

Common Emerald *

Riband Wave *

Vine's Rustic

Small Dusty Wave

Flame Shoulder

Sycamore

Small Bloodvein *

Silver Y

Light Arches *

Large Nutmeg

Cinnabar

Buff Ermine

Small Square-spot

Small Waved Umber

Common Footman *

Sandy Carpet **

Grey Pine Carpet *

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

Small Magpie

Brown Housemoth

3 x E. mono's

5 x L B Apple moth

3 x Bee Moth

Meal Moth **

* first for year

** garden first