MOTHS ...WE ARE THE CAMPIONS

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

5th May 2014 ... Brocades and Buttons

A nice warm evening for the garden moth traps until light persistent rain moved in at 01.00 and stayed until well after dawn.
Highlight of the Night ...
A brace of Toadflax Brocade
There has been a local colony in or nearby my garden and these are regularly trapped each year during early and later flights.
I can't find any Toadflax in the area and can only assume that they survive on garden Antirhinums or something similar.
I have fed the lavae on antirhinums,and having established that they are happy to feed on them I didn't breed them through but released them on antirhinums that I grew in a large garden pot.
This year I have planted 3 patches of Snap Dragons because I am not sure if I am spelling antirhinums correctly.
Below, Toadflax Brocades, one ready for the off ...

Buttoned Snout
is another regular moth in the garden, recorded annually, and two turned up last night along with a year first Setaceous Hebrew Character ...
Below top... Buttoned Snout
Bottom... Setaceous Hebrew Character

The Catch:-
0647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 1
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella, 5
0697 ... Agonopterix arenella, 1
0808 ... Platyedra subcinerea, 4
0892 ... Mompha subbistrigella, 1
0964 ... Cochylis dubitana, 1
0974 ... Argyrotaenia ljungiana, 2
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana, 7
1288 ... Alucita hexadactyla, 2
1428 ... Aphomia sociella, 4
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla, 2
1728 ... Garden Carpet, 2
1858 ... V-pug, 1
1862 ... Double-striped Pug, 4
1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle, 1
1906 ... Brimstone Moth, 2
2063 ... Muslin Moth, 2
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart, 20
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character, 1, year first
2160 ... Bright-line Brown-eye, 1
2190 ... Hebrew Character, 3
2223 ... Toadflax Brocade, 2, year first
2306 ... Angle Shades, 1
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow, 1
2480 ... Buttoned Snout, 2, year first

Monday, 5 May 2014

4th May 2014 ... Garden Moths latest

Night temperatures are slowly creeping up again as are the species numbers.
A late afternoon saunter in the garden produced a few common micros and a check of the shed windows yielded 13 x Mompha subbistrigella and a White-shouldered House-moth.
Three additions to the year list were added during the evening, Platyedra subcinerea, Flame Shoulder and Rustic Shoulder-knot.
409a ... Argyresthia trifasciata 1
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella 1
0649 ... Esperia sulphurella 1
0697 ... Agonopterix arenella 1
0808 ... Platyedra subcinerea 2, year first (and second)
0892 ... Mompha subbistrigella 13
0985 ... Cacoecimorpha pronubana 2, Carnation Tortrix
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana 5, Light Brown Apple Moth
1342 ... Eudonia angustea 1
1361 ... Pyrausta aurata 3
1728 ... Garden Carpet, 2
1761 ... Small Waved Umber, 1
1834 ... Common Pug, 2
1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle, 1
1906 ... Brimstone Moth, 2
2019 ... Chocolate-tip, 1
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart, 10
2102 ... Flame Shoulder, 1, year first
2306 ... Angle Shades, 1
2334 ... Rustic Shoulder-knot, 1, year first
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow, 1

Above ... Platyedra subcinerea
Below ... Flame Shoulder

Above ... Rustic Shoulder-knot

Also found on the shed window, a small beetle about 4-5mm long which I haven't noticed before, in fact there were 3 of them.
I don't know the ID ...

Other beetles

Harlequin Ladybirds in cop, showing diverse colour and pattern
and below, 14-spot Ladybirds

Above, 2-spot Ladybird

Sunday, 4 May 2014

3rd May 2014 ... Garden Moths latest

Cold nights are trumps lately, slightly warmer than the previous night.
Lowest temps were in the early hours, dropping to 4 deg C.
You never know what to expect in May temperature-wise and any gardener will tell you not to "cast a clout until May is out". Not certain if this refers to the month of May or the May blossom on the Hawthorn which is certainly out at the moment. Maybe it comes out later in the Northern counties as this sounds like a northern expression. A lump of the good earth is called a clart around the N/E, whereas us Men of Kent call it a clod and no doubt there are variations around the UK.
Whilst poking around the clouts, clarts and clods of the garden yesterday, a Carnation Tortrix was added to the year list ....

Above .... Carnation Tortrix, Cacoecimorpha pronubana.

Nothing to add last night but the following moths were recorded :-
One each of ...
Small Waved Umber
Chocolate-tip
Muslin Moth
Cabbage Moth
Hebrew Character
Plus 8 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
The next few nights look much better for the traps but rain could be a bigger problem

Saturday, 3 May 2014

2nd May 2014... Chamomile Shark

I flicked on the garden traps last night despite the accurate frosty forecast from the Met.
Temperatures plummetted to 1/2 a deg C during the night with a light frost on the grass this morning, however, a few moths were flying in the early evening.
A total of 8 moths were trapped, 7 of which were Shuttle-shaped Darts and one very welcome Chamomile Shark.
Quite an uncommon moth, they have been turning up annually for the past 3 years albeit in singles.
The pictures show the dark lines along the forewing passing into the fringe, unlike Shark, where the lines stop abruptly at the inner edge of the fringe.
Difficult to tell apart when the fringe is worn as is often the case.

Thursday, 1 May 2014

30th April 2014 ... Garden Moths latest

Last night was an opportunity to bag a few species before a batch of cold wet weather moves in.
It proved to be a little disappointing but a Chocolate-tip was added to the year list.
Shuttle-shaped Dart numbers have increased with 19 in the traps, any outside the traps get snapped up by the House Sparrows which are now feeding chicks.
Two Muslin Moths were caught including a white female which is seldom seen ...
CHOCOLATE-TIP