18th Oct 2014 ... You're late !

This unseasonal warm weather has certainly confused the insect world.
Another Buff Ermine turned up which is possibly the same one I released 3 days ago.
Compare the markings.com and it looks very similar.
But Swallow-tailed Moth is another entry to the VC30 late list, just waiting for confirmation.
Speaking of warm weather ...
Can you hear that distant whine drifting across the English Channel ?
It's the Energy Company leeches moaning that they are not selling enough gas and their annual extortionate profits are down.
Ok, they are not all French.
"Nous devrons augmenter nos prix" I hear them moan.
Yes, you probably will increase your prices but you do that on the "supply and demand" basis too.  Where is eff offgas when you need them ? Oh well, pay up (shrug)
Give it a week or two and we will all be huddled around the heating (^_*)

18th Oct
Epiphyas postvittana 4
Ditula angustiorana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 2
November Moth agg. 1, year first

November Moth (agg)

Swallow-tailed Moth, 1
Buff Ermine, 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart, 3
Lesser Yellow Underwing, 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2
Blair's Shoulder-knot, 3
Yellow-line Quaker, 1
Angle Shades, 2

Swallow-tailed Moth

Buff Ermine

I've found a couple of these odd looking grubs around the garden, not knowing what they were.
Fortunately, Mark Skevington posted one on his blog and I now know that it is a Hover-fly larva.

This one is the red form of Syrphus ribesii most likely, a common garden species.
Mark has an excellent blog if anyone is interested in creepy crawlies and nature in general .... http://skevsblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Garden Orb Spiders ( Araneus diadematus) are everywhere at the moment.
This one seems to have taken on the colour of the brick wall it frequents..

2nd Nov 2013 ... Garden trap catch

Nothing startling, but a nice variety .....
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana
1041 ... Acleris sparsana
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla
1764 ... Common Marbled Carpet
1795 ... November Moth

2091 ... Dark Sword-grass
2240 ... Blair's Shoulder-knot
2258 ... Chestnut
2259 ... Dark Chestnut
2306 ... Angle Shades
This time of year I get several other visitors around the traps.
It's been a good year for most insects and arachnids.
Harvestman Spiders are everywhere, and many other species of spider,  Ophion sp wasps and Caddis are regulars to the traps.
Rosemary Beetles are now common and a female Great Diving Beetle was found in the trap along with a Common Wasp.

Great Diving Beetle, (female)

Common Wasp

Rosemary Beetle

Wasp, Ophion spp. 

Garden Moths ... 14/15/16th Oct 2013

The last 3 nights have produced a nice variety with a few newbies for the garden year list...
14th Oct... Early evening rain - clearing
1041 ... Acleris sparsana ... YF

1041 ... Acleris sparsana

1342 ... Eudonia angustea
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla
1937 ... Willow Beauty
2091 ... Dark Sword-grass
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character
2240 ... Blair's Shoulder-knot x 2
2267 ... Beaded Chestnut
.
15th Oct ... Cold, clear, calm. 4.8 deg C
A Brimstone Moth was a late record
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana x 2
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla x 3
1771 ... Juniper Carpet ... YF

1771 ... Juniper Carpet

1795x . November Moth agg. ... YF

1795X ... November Moth agg.

1906 ... Brimstone Moth
1937 ... Willow Beauty x 2
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character x 2
2240 ... Blair's Shoulder-knot x 2
2263 ... Red-line Quaker ... YF

2263 ... Red-line Quaker

2264 ... Yellow-line Quaker
2267 ... Beaded Chestnut x 2
.
16th Oct ... warmer, gusty winds
0464 ... Plutella xylostella

464 ... Plutella xylostella ... Diamond-back Moth

0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla x 3
1764 ... Common Marbled Carpet
1728 ... Garden Carpet
1937 ... Willow Beauty
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing
2109 ... Lesser Yellow Underwing
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character
2240 ... Blair's Shoulder-knot x 2
2267 ... Beaded Chestnut x 2
2375 ... Large Wainscot

2375 ... Large Wainscot

2441 ... Silver Y

2441 ... Silver Y

Some larvae from this morning 17th Oct, if anyone wants to hazard an ID

28th Oct 2012 ... 2 moths !

6.3 deg was a lot warmer than the previous 2 or 3 nights when nothing was recorded in the garden traps.
Light showers and wind were the order of the night but two moths were found.

0808 Platyedra subcinerea ...

1795-7 November Moth agg.

21st Oct. 2012 ...Foul night, new garden macro !

Early rain eased to a misty drizzle for the night but still a good variety of moths about, including a year first November Moth (agg) and a garden first Juniper Carpet.
Thanks Captain Trappings (Matt) for spotting it straight away, and Beds county recorder Melissa Banthorpe for the confirmation.
There are a lot of ornamental coniferous trees in the nearby gardens which may explain its presence.......

Juniper Carpet, Thera juniperata a Dells garden first.

Trap results:-
1 .. 0998 .. Epiphyas postvittana
2 .. 1524 .. Emmelina monodactyla
1 .. 1764 .. Common Marbled Carpet

Common Marbled Carpet, Chloroclysta truncata

1 .. 1771 .. Juniper Carpet, garden first
1 .. 1795X November Moth agg. year first (below)

1 .. 1937 .. Willow Beauty
1 .. 2107 .. Large Yellow Underwing
1 .. 2109 .. Lesser Yellow Underwing
4 .. 2126 .. Setaceous Hebrew Character
1 .. 2237 .. Grey Shoulder-knot
1 .. 2259 .. Dark Chestnut
1 .. 2384 .. Vine's Rustic
1 .. 2389 .. Pale Mottled Willow
1 .. 2434 .. Burnished Brass, (below)

20th Oct

Two Acleris moths, one from my trap and one from a friends house, a mile and a half away, that flew in as I walked in the front door....
.... both Acleris schalleriana I reckon but I will get confirmation....

1) From my trap

2) From my mate Sam's hallway ceiling !

11/11/11....Migrants

Overnight min temp. 10.1 deg...20mph gusts, drizzle and rain from 11pm until midnightish.
Thursdays very bright full moon resulted in a blank for the traps, but last night was a different story.
No sign of the moon, heavily overcast and apart from an hour of rain it was a good night.
13 moths of 11 species were recorded.
Also another garden first was added to The Dells species list, not from the traps but from a phone call.
I sent an unidentified moth to the recorders that had been refridgerated since 15th september.
After a gen det it turned out to be a male Garden Dart which brings the 2011 macro total to a tantalising 249 species. Thanks to Andy and Melissa Banthorpe, whose help over the last 3 years has been invaluable.
Last nights haul :-

BRICK

SATELLITE



DARK SWORD-GRASS



SILVER Y

RUSTY DOT PEARL





RED-LINE QUAKER

BLAIR'S SHOULDER-KNOT



NOVEMBER MOTH agg.

plus
Turnip Moth
Blastobasis lacticolella
Epiphyas postvittana x 3

28th Oct 2011...Garden traps

Overnight min. temp. 8.7 deg. calm, overcast

LARGE WAINSCOT



BLAIR'S SHOULDER-KNOT



COMMON MARBLED CARPET



RED-GREEN CARPET

NOVEMBER MOTH agg.



MERVEILLE DU JOUR

 3 x Blair's Shoulder-knot
3 x Silver Y
2 x November Moth agg
1 x Common Marbled Carpet
1 x Red-green Carpet
1 x Merveille du Jour, (year first)

2 x Epiphyas postvittana
1 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Acleris sparsana

Garden Tally for 2011......
430 species.....246 macro, 184 micro

26th Oct 2011...More October "Novembers"

Overnight min. temp. 8.9 deg. Prolonged light rain, Light breeze
1 x Large Yellow Underwing
1 x Pale Mottled Willow
2 x Silver Y
2 x November Moth agg.

One of two NOVEMBER MOTH agg

Just 6 individuals of 4 species.

16th Oct 2011

Overnight min temp...6.4 deg, calm
Not a great deal to record as temperatures remind us that winter really is approaching.

Two November Moth aggs will probably undergo gen det.
Last nights haul:-
3 x Willow Beauty
1 x Beaded Chestnut
2 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Blair's Shoulder-knot
1 x Pale Mottled Willow
2 x November Moth agg
1 x Large Wainscot
1 x Alucita hexadactyla, Twenty Plume Moth
1 x Emmelina monodactyla
1 x Endrosis sarcitrella, White-shouldered House Moth
The November aggs will add at least one more species to the 2011 garden list, so my macro count this year is now 245.
I think I will struggle to hit the 250 mark, December Moth  is  a rare sight in my garden, but without it 5 more species is a very tough call and time is running out.

3rd Nov..............NOV-EL

Late addition to this posting. Found a Brick hiding on the trap.
............................................
BRICK

About time too ! My first November (agg) Moth (:0)) ......... It was blowing a near gale last night but very mild and we also got away with the rain. Nice surprise to find a few moths in the trap including this Nov Moth
.............................................................................................................................
NOVEMBER MOTH agg

Last nights haul :-

3 x Blair's Shoulder-knot

2 x Turnip Moth

1 x Willow Beauty

1 x November Moth agg

1 x Brick