10th May 2013 ... Biggleswade Common

The last two nights have been Novemberesque with gale force gusts, hefty rain showers, and cold.
One trap last night, operating under cover, managed to pull a few moths including the first Common Pug of the season .....

1834 ... Common Pug ... Epithecia vulgata

The rest :-
9 moths of 8 species
0240 ... Tinea pellionella (in kitchen) ... Case-bearing Clothes-moth
0892 ... Mompha subbistrigella ... Garden Cosmet

1728 ... Garden Carpet ... Xanthorhoe fluctuata
1781 ... Small Waved Umber ... Horisme vitalbata
1862 ... Double-striped Pug ... Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
1906 ... Brimstone Moth ... Opisthograptis luteolata
2028 ... Pale Tussock ... Calliteara pudibunda
2063 ... Muslin Moth ... Diaphora mendica.
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart ... Agrotis puta ... 2

8th May 2013 ... Catch report

Last night was much cooler and quite windy as our fine weather of  late comes to a temporary end hopefully.
Two more "year first" moths were added, both common to my garden.

The catch ...
0648 ... Endrosis sarcitrella ... White-shouldered House-moth ... 1
0649 ... Esperia sulphurella ... Sulphur Tubic ... 1
0808 ... Platyedra subcinerea ... Mallow Groundling ... 1
0974 ... Argyrotaenia ljungiana ... Heather Tortrix ... 2
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla ... Common Plume ... 2

1728 ... Xanthorhoe fluctuata ... Garden Carpet ... 1
1781 ... Horisme vitalbata ... Small Waved Umber ... 2, YF

1781 ... Small Waved Umber ... Horisme vitalbata

2063 ... Diaphora mendica ... Muslin Moth ... 1
2092 ... Agrotis puta ... Shuttle-shaped Dart ... 4
2190 ... Orthosia gothica ... Hebrew Character ... 1
2243 ... Xylocampa areola ... Early Grey ... 2
2283/4..Acronicta tridens/psi ... Dark/Grey Dagger agg. ... 3
2306 ... Phlogophora meticulosa ... Angle Shades ... 1, YF

2306 ... Angle Shades ... Phlogophora meticulosa

7th May 2013 ... Another new macro .........

The weather has been kind these last few days with a nice variety of moths turning up, including this new species for the garden ... LUNAR MARBLED BROWN

2015 ... Lunar Marbled Brown ...Drymonia dodoneae

3 more quality moths were added to the year list ....
BUTTONED SNOUT ....

2480 ... Buttoned Snout ... Hypena rostralis

PALE TUSSOCK ...

2028 ... Pale Tussock ... Calliteara pudibunda

LEAST BLACK ARCHES ...

2078 ... Least Black Arches ...Nola confusalis

BRINDLED OR OAK-TREE ? ... What do YOU think ?

Yesterday I posted two pics of Brindled Pug, but sharp-eyed Matt ( Captain Trappings) is 100 per cent sure
that  the top picture of the two is in fact an Oak-tree Pug.
Opinions are very welcome .......

Oak-tree suspect

Brindled Pug

 The discal marks are wider in the top pic, the bottom Brindled shows a thin, short black line.
There are orange/brown scales along leading and trailing edges of  forewing in the top pic which point to Oak-tree (click to enlarge).
There is a subtle difference in wing shape, but they are more or less similar in wingspan, about 23 mm give or take a mil.
Anyone ?

6th May 2013 ... Purple Patch

1919 ... Purple Thorn ... Selenia tetralunaria

Another great night for the garden mothing.

Purple Thorn has only made one previous appearance so I was pleased to see this one.

Another hit or miss moth is the weird looking Chocolate-tip, this one is the third garden record.....

2091 ... Chocolate-tip ... Clostera curtula

From the exotic to the mundane, a Brown House-moth, the first of many ....

647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella ... Brown House-moth

 Waved Umber was also added to the year list .....

1781 ... Waved Umber ... Horisme vitalbata

10 Pugs showed up last night, 8 of them were Double-striped with 2 Brindled .... or are they ?
The bottom picture is definitely a Brindled but the top one looks more like an Oak Tree Pug

Oak-tree Pug ?

1852 ... Brindled Pug ... Epithecia abbreviata

Last nights catch :-

0647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella ... Brown House-moth ... 1, YF

0649 ... Esperia sulphurella ... Sulphur Tubic ... 2

0697 ... Agonopterix arenella ... Brindled Flat-body ... 1

0808 ... Platyedra subcinerea ... Mallow Groundling ... 2

0892 ... Mompha subbistrigella ... Garden Cosmet ... 2

0974 ... Argyrotaenia ljungiana ... Heather Tortrix ... 3

0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana ... Light Brown Apple Moth ... 2

1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla ... Common Plume ... 6

1781 ... Waved Umber ... Menophra abruptaria ... 1, YF

1852 ... Brindled Pug ... Epithecia abbreviata ... 2, YF

1862 ... Double-striped Pug ... Gymnoscelis rufifasciata ... 8

1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle ... Acasis viretata ... 1

1906 ... Brimstone Moth ... Opisthograptis luteolata ... 1

1919 ... Purple Thorn ... Selenia tetralunaria ... 1, YF

2019 ... Chocolate-tip ... Clostera curtula ... 1, YF

2063 ... Muslin Moth ... Diaphora mendica ... 2

2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart ... Agrotis puta ... 1

2186 ... Powdered Quaker ... Orthosia gracilis ... 2

2187 ... Common Quaker ... Orthosia cerasi ... 2

2190 ... Hebrew Character ... Orthosia gothica ... 5

2243 ... Early Grey ... Xylocampa areola ... 3