Another view of suspected A. scopariella

Here's another shot of the mystery moth from the previous blog entry.....heracliana/ciliella or scopariella ? Nothing new in traps last night, still lots of Common Quakers, Clouded Drabs and Hebrew Characters flying at the mo, also a large Carrion Beetle and a large wasp ! Garden traps :- 12 x Common Quaker... 5 x Hebrew Character ...4 x Clouded Drab ...3 x Early Grey ...2 x Double-striped Pug ...2 x Emmelina monodactyla................................ 473 moths (357 micro, 116 micro) of 29/30 species (one pending ID....19 macro, 10/11 micro)

28th March 2011....Possible A. scopariella

A new macro for the year turned up last night, a rather tatty Powdered Quaker. The big news was the micro I caught on the wall near the trap. At first I thought it was just another Agonopterix heracliana but its general behaviour prompted me to look a little closer as it had a different reaction to captivity than the host of heracliana I have caught. After flicking through UK moths I came to the conclusion that it was A. scopariella as it had the classic transverse twin black spots at a quarter distance from the thorax and the two white spots mid-way down the wing. Pics were sent to the VC 30 micro recorder, David Manning, who agrees that it ticks all the boxes but has some doubts about the wing shape. So the unfortunate creature is now in deep freeze awaiting collection for a more detailed examination. If it turns out to be scopariella it will be only the third one recorded in VC30 .......................................................................... POWDERED QUAKER 2186 AGONOPTERIX SCOPARIELLA ? awaiting confirmation but I am very keen on this one..........COMMENTS/OPINIONS very welcome Garden Tally :- 6 x Common Quaker 3 x Hebrew Character 2 x E. monodactyla 2 x Double-striped Pug 1 x Powdered Quaker * FFY 1 x Satellite 1 x Clouded Drab 1 x Small Quaker 1 x Diurnea fagella 1 x Agonopterix scopariella TBC Totals:- 445 moths (331 mac, 114 mic) of 29/30 species (19 macro, 10/11 micro)

27th March 2011.... Just when I thought it was slack.......

After a long period of Common Quakers, Clouded Drabs, Hebrew Characters etc, it was nice to get something different. Checking the traps this morning I was pleased to see another Red Chestnut but that was soon overshadowed when I lifted out the final egg tray to find a Pale Pinion. This is a garden "first" for The Dells, bring on a Tawny ! .............................................................................. RED CHESTNUT 2139

PALE PINION 2236

Last Night :-

10 x Common Quaker

3 x Double-striped Pug

4 x Clouded Drab

2 x Early Grey

2 x Emmelina monodactyla

1 x Hebrew Character

1 x Small Quaker

1 x Pale Pinion * Garden first

Totals :-

426 moths (316 macro, 110 micro) of 28 species (18 macro, 10 micro)

26th March 2011.....Slack period

Had a wander up "The Lodge", RSPB Headquarters, which is about 4 miles away by road. Had to shake off the red-wine cobwebs ! LESSER REDPOLL snapped through the glass of the "Hollywood" hide. Built quite a few years ago, very smart but much more restricted views than the one it replaced, impractical design all round, definitely built for appearance to impress the "Haddocks" on their one day summer excursions there. The ponds and surrounding areas are really good, as they are working to restore the old heathland. Soon there will be Nightjars and Woodlarks breeding there. Guaranteed !

Part of the old woodland at The Lodge.

The naturalised daffs will soon be replaced by a carpet of blue as the Bluebells come into bloom.

Lots of Treecreepers and Nuthatch here.

GARDEN MOTHS........The last few days have been really good on the weather front, with temperatures around 7 degress up to midnight and little or no wind. The traps have been on but apart from the usual Common Quakers, Hebrew Characters and Clouded Drabs the Spring arrivals don't seem to have arrived yet at The Dells. I did get my 3rd Early Thorn last night though. .............................................................................. EARLY THORN 1917Garden totals :- 401 moths (293 micro, 108 macro) of 27 species (17 macro, 10 micro)

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23rd March 2011...Little moth...Big name

Last night in The Dells garden.

A new micro for the year was added, the all too familiar Brown House Moth,
HOFMANNOPHILA PSEUDOSPRETELLA 0647

SMALL QUAKER 2182 Total :-

38 moths of 11 species.

0647) 1 x Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Brown House-moth) *FFY

0633) 1 x Diurnea fagella

0688) 2 x Agonopterix heracliana

1524) 6 x Emmelina monodactyla

1663) 1 x March Moth

1862) 9 x Double-striped Pug

2182) 2 x Small Quaker

2187) 9 x Common Quaker

2188) 2 x Clouded Drab

2190) 3 x Hebrew Character

2243) 2 x Early Grey

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Year total :-

363 moths (262 macro, 101 micro) of 27 species (17 macro, 10 micro)

22nd March 2011...Garden Update

Another great night weather-wise, with temperatures staying into double figures for most of the evening.
The cloud cover had gone by 22.30 and temps slowly fell to a min of 3.6 deg in the early morning hours.
70 moths of 12 species were caught, which is a very high total for my town garden at this time of year.
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ALUCITA HEXADACTYLA, 1288, The Twenty-plume Moth

Another view of this strange moth, showing the wing structure.

A. hexadactyla

MARCH MOTH 1663

CLOUDED DRAB 2188

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG Totals :-

29 x Common Quaker

13 x Double-striped Pug

7 x Early Grey

4 x Clouded Drab

4 x Emmelina monodactyla

4 x Agonopterix heracliana

3 x Hebrew Character

2 x Diurnea fagella

1 x March Moth

1 x Small Quaker

1 x Chestnut

1 x Alucita hexadactyla *FFY

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

325 moths (234 macro, 91 micro) of 26 species (17 macro, 9 micro)

21st March 2011...Home and away

The Home Wood Field Trip went well, the weather was perfect and all the equipment worked fine on its maiden outing.
This was the second such visit of what will be a regular monthly excursion.
There are no previous records from this comparatively young wood so we don't know what to expect.
25 species were noted of circa 140 moths, although there were probably more but we only counted maximums on view at any one time.
The full report will appear on Matts blog pages at http://thetrappingsofsuccess.blogspot.com/
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Captain Trappings, surveying the scene as the equipment is being set up.

A few fresh STREAMERS appeared early evening

Just a single YELLOW HORNED

SHOULDER STRIPE

ENGRAILED spp Best of the rest :-

Acleris literana

Oak Beauty

Red Green Carpet

Lead-coloured Drab

Acleris ferrugana/notana

Small Brindled Beauty

Brindled Pug

and the usual suspects were also present in numbers.

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On the Home front, I left the garden trap on with great expectations and was gutted with the result ! On the best night of the year to date, just the usual Common Quakers and Drabs etc.

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Garden to date :-

Last night......

8 x Common Quaker

3 x Emmelina monodactyla

One each of the following :-

Double-striped Pug

Early Grey

Clouded Drab

Hebrew Character

Agonopterix heracliana

Diurnea fagella

255 moths (175 macro, 80 micro) of 25 species (17 macro, 8 micro)

20th March 2011....Spring equinox at last

The Spring equinox is here and the daytime is now longer than the night.

Conditions were very good for the time of year and the traps were busier than usual with 38 moths recorded of 8 species.

Mostly the same old, but an Early Thorn turned up to brighten up the evenings mothing.

Tonight Matt Ratface Trappings and myself will be at Holme Wood for our second outing there. The first occasion was quite a success considering we only used a battery operated, low wattage trap, but tonight we are taking the jenny and a couple of traps, a 100 watt FUL and an 80watt MV.

Looking forward to that as the weather forecast looks very favourable.
The full report will appear on Matts blog, http://thetrappingsofsuccess.blogspot.com

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EARLY THORN 1917

EARLY GREY 2243

COMMON QUAKER 2187 ........my most numerous moth to date. The Catch :-

13 x Common Quaker

5 x Agonopterix heracliana

5 x Double-striped Pug

6 x Clouded Drab

3 x Hebrew Character

2 x Early Grey

3 x Emmelina monodactyla

1 x Early Thorn *FFY

Totals :-

238 moths (163 macro, 75 micro) of 25 species (17 macro, 8 micro)

19th March 2011.......Fag Break

A lucky break indeed !


I've been laying some slabs around the garden, nice day for it, and during a coffee break I checked out the sun drenched brick/stone back wall.
This NURSERY WEB SPIDER was sunning itself and .....

.....8 of those funny little jumping spiders were hunting around the warm bricks.
As I watched, one of the spiders dragged a moth out of a crevice in the brickwork.
Sorry to say I deprived it of its lunch and added this DIURNEA FAGELLA to my micro year list....................


.......The half dead creature succombed 10 mins after the photo shoot.
The warm sunshine kicked started my garden into life and the first flowers appeared on many plants, including my Lungwort which had attracted quite a few Bumble Bees and Hover Flies.

Lungwort (above)
Green Shield Bug (below)

The Green Shield Bug was misidentified earlier. What I didn't know at the time was, they turn brown in late autumn before hibernation and take a week or more to turn back to green in the spring when they become active again.

I decided to run a trap in the early hours of the evening until the temperature fell too low.

A Double-striped Pug turned up on the wall near the trap and both Common Quaker and Clouded Trap were caught, but nothing else turned up after the moon rose.

Apparently, this is the nearest the moon has been to the earth in 20 odd years so it is big and bright right now.

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MOONRISE .....almost like daylight in my garden last night.

Yesterday/Last nights Moths :-

0663...Diurnea fagella *FFY

1862...Double-striped Pug

2187...Common Quaker

2188...Clouded Drab

TOTALS....200 moths (133 macro, 67 micro) of 24 species (16 macro, 8 micro)

18th March 2011...Guaranteed tick

Clear night, bright full moon, temperature down to freezing point. Not the best of conditions. However, I decided to run a trap until temps dropped below 2 degrees which happened at around 8.30pm.
A Dark Chestnut turned up at the trap but that was it for the night so I uploaded the pics on to the P C and noticed a little moth on the wall very near the computer screen.
Oh well, I had to get one sooner or later and they all count.......
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TINEA PELLIONELLA 0240 Case-bearing Clothes Moth

DARK CHESTNUT 2259 So far :-

196 moths (130 macro, 66 micro) of 23 species (16 macro, 7 micro)

17th March 2011...The Dells garden update

Glad to say the Met Office got it wrong with a 4 degree low and rain forecast.
There were a few specks of rain, not anywhere near enough to cover up the traps, but the temperature stayed above 8deg C for most of the night, dropping to 6 in the early hours.
28 moths of 10 species was the result, including a year first Pine Beauty........
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DARK CHESTNUT 2259

SATELLITE 2256

PINE BEAUTY 2179

Last nights tally :-

11 x Common Quaker

4 x Double-striped Pug

3 x Hebrew Character

3 x Clouded Drab

2 x Agonopterix heracliana

1 x Emmelina monodactyla

1 x Small Quaker

1 x Satellite

1 x Dark Chestnut

1 x Pine Beauty

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Totals :-

194 moths (129 macro, 65 micro) of 22 species (16 macro, 6 micro)

16th March 2011.....Take it as Red

Not a nice evening last night with a mist falling like drizzle and a lot cooler, so I was over the moon to find this garden first in the trap........
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RED CHESTNUT 2139
A year and "garden first" tick

Tally :-

3 x Common Quaker

2 x Hebrew Character

1 x Red Chestnut

1 x A. heracliana

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166 moths (104 macro, 62 micro) of 21 species (15 macro, 6 micro)

Garden update 14th/15th March 2011

Not too much to report on the moth front, more of the usual suspects, I need a new species badly !
Here are some of the latest catches and observations............
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SMALL QUAKER 2182

AGONOPTERIX HERACLIANA 688

no shortage of these little micros !

My second one this year....DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG 1862

The inevitable HEBREW CHARACTER 2190

CLOUDED DRAB 2188

COMMON QUAKER 2187

This is what appears to be TROILUS LURIDUS, it has no common name and is similar to the Forest Shieldbug. The smooth rounded shoulders are the fieldmark.

This is the first one to be seen in the garden.

GOLDFINCH feeding on the old seedheads of my SENECIO plants. Contrary to the advice of Alan Tichmarsh, I leave the flower heads ON....well worth it I would say !

Also it is a good foodplant for Cinnabar larva !

The SPARROW TENEMENT BLOCK,

1 - 5 SPARROWVILLE

Biggleswade.

Beds. SG188LL

Constructed by Matt Burgess, this community housing project is now producing a regular supply of young sparrows to the area.

No ! We didn't install TV for them.....that is my old terrestial TV aerial which still runs the bedroom TV.

After risking my neck on a double extension ladder marking, drilling and fixing, there were no tenants until 5 years later in 2008.

For the last 3 years there has been two of the five compartments occupied with up to 3 broods during a year. Plenty of interest this year too, so I'm hoping for another good breeding season.

Another view of the Sparrow des res Garden Moth Totals:-

159 moths of 20 species......14 macro and 6 micro

98 macro

61 micro

13th March 2011...How cold ?

The temperature last night was the key factor. At sunset it hovered at a point of two over 6deg, but the skies had cleared and all was calm.
I put the two traps on and lit up the shed wall and hoped the temperature would hold up for an hour or two before plummeting to the forecasted zero.
Early success with A. heracliana at dusk, two Common Quakers shortly after, followed by a March Moth.
It was now 7.30 pm and 5 deg, but E. monodactyla was found near the trap.
I had decided that 3 deg would be my cut-off point so at 8.30pm, with temps showing 2.8 deg and falling fast, I checked and emptied the traps before switching off.
Dark Chestnut and another Common Quaker were in the egg boxes.
Off went one of the Skinners and the shed wall lights but I decided to leave one trap on just to see if it was possible for anything to fly at around 2deg.
This morning was frosty, and still very cold at minus 1deg. Checking the trap I found a Common Quaker, Clouded Drab and yet another E. mono.
So, somewhere between plus 2 and minus 1 degrees it is still possible to catch the odd moth.
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DARK CHESTNUT 2259

MARCH MOTH 1663 Garden Tally:-

3 x 1524 Emmelina monodactyla

1 x 0688 Agonopterix heracliana

1 x 2259 Dark Chestnut

3 x 2187 Common Quaker

1 x 2188 Clouded Drab

1 x 1663 March Moth

Totals for garden:-

132 moths of 20 species, 14 macro, 6 micro...........(79 macro, 53 micro)

The Side-Bet so far..........Matt 24, Trent 20