27th May ... Back from Rhodes, normal mothing resumes

Had a great time in Rhodes at the wedding of our close friends son who we have known since the nappy years.
Did the tourist things, Rhodes old town, Acropolis at Lindos, donkey rides etc but little time for the natural world, although my pics of the Acropolis contained some heavily cropped photo's of a distant breeding pair of Black-eared Wheatears.

 The only moth seen on our hotel wall ...

... an Idaea species by the look of it, roughly the size of a Least Carpet or Treble Brown Spot

Arrived home at 11.30 pm last night feeling absolutely cream crackered but flicked on the traps before throwing some zeds.
Got up too late to beat the early birds around the traps but found 15 moths of 13 species within, including 3 species for the garden year list.
1 x Common Swift (year first)
1 x Hofmannophila pseudospretella
1 x Epiphyas postvittana
1 x Aphomia sociella
2 x Garden Carpet
1 x Common Pug
1 x Scalloped Hazel
1 x Poplar Hawk-moth, (year first)

1981, Poplar Hawk-moth

1 x Turnip Moth
1 x Heart and Dart
2 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Nutmeg, (year first)

2145, Nutmeg

1 x Early Grey

Daytime 28th May
3 x Pyrausta aurata

1361, Pyrausta aurata

P. aurata was moth #99 for 2015
Ton up tonight !

2nd Aug 2014 .. Oranges and Lemons

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

MUSLIN MOTH female

A daytime foray in the garden produced a few moths, Beetles and Bees etc ..

Above ... A spotless Harlequin Ladybird being stalked by an aphid
Below ... Anthophila fabriciana, the Common Nettle-tap

Below ... Brown Squash Bug or Dock-leaf Bug, Coreus marginatus

Below ... Pyrausta aurata, Mint Moth

Below ... The first prospector seen checking out my bug box made from lengths of garden cane, jammed into a wooden box and fixed to the wall ..

Below
A Nursery-web Spider sunning itself on a foxglove leaf

Latest Moths from The Dells Garden

Currant Pug 21st April

Dark/Grey Dagger agg 22nd April

Cochylis dubitana 23rd April

Mompha epilobiella 23rd April

Scalloped Hazel x 2, 23rd April

Phyllonorychter sp. possibly "blancardella" to be confirmed
24th April.

Pyrausta aurata 24th April

25th April
The Northill 9th annual beer festival and hogroast
Ilkley Black 3.7 %
Robinson's Dizzy Blonde 3.8%
Lambo First Pint 4.0%
Lymestone's Flagstone 4.2%
William's April Thesis 4.2%
Wharfebank Golden Ticket 4.5%
Exe Valley, It's Phil's Ale 4.8%
Cairngorm Wild Cat 5.1%
Obviously no moth trapping on such an occasion ...

Common Pug, 27th April

Turnip Moth, 27th April

Common Marbled Carpet, 27th April

16th May 2013 .... Sharks and Kittens

Still no warm nights but the moth species keep on trickling in, so no complaints.
A daytime foray in the sunny garden produced Esperia sulphurella and the first sighting of Pyrausta aurata, but the highlight was after dark with the 2nd recorded Chamomile Shark ( county recorders confirmed) for the garden plus a year first Sallow Kitten.
The Catch ...
0649 ... Esperia sulphurella ... Sulphur Tubic
1361 ... Pyrausta aurata ... Mint Moth ...YF

1728 ... Garden Carpet ... Xanthorhoe fluctuata
1781 ... Small Waved Umber ... Horisme vitalbata
1832 ... Common Pug ... Epithecia vulgata
1862 ... Double-striped Pug ... Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
1997 ... Sallow Kitten ... Furcula furcula ... YF
2063 ... Muslin Moth ... Diaphora mendica ... x3
2186 ... Powdered Quaker ... Orthosia gracilis ... x2
2214 ... Chamomile Shark ... Cucullia chamomillae ... YF
2234 ... Rustic Shoulder-knot ... Apamea sordens
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow ... Paradrina clavipalpis
.............................................................................................

1361 ... Pyrausta aurata

1997 ... Sallow Kitten ... Furcula furcula

2214 ... Chamomile Shark ... Cucullia chamomillae

23rd April 2011.....Ticking along beautifully

The warm weather continues and already some people are moaning about being too hot....say no more...........The moths on the other hand relish the warmer weather and came out en masse last night... At 11pm it was still 15 deg and The Dells traps chalked up another garden "first" a cracking PALE OAK BEAUTY 1944 of the dark form humperti, wingspan...50mm

First of hundreds no doubt.....Pyrausta aurata

SCORCHED CARPET 1888 a nice addition to 2011

WAVED UMBER 1936 FFY

CYDIA POMONELLA 1261.....Codling Moth Last night:-

24 x Shuttle-shaped Dart

15 x Argyrotaenia ljungiana

3 x Epiphyas postvittana

3 x Endrosis sarcitrella

2 x Emmelina monodactyla

2 x Grey Dagger agg.

2 x Brimstone Moth

2 x Knot Grass

2 x Scalloped Hazel

Scorched Carpet *year first

Pyrausta aurata *year first

Flame Shoulder

Pale Tussock

Early Grey

Common Quaker

Powdered Quaker

Nut-tree Tussock

Ruby Tiger

Lime Hawkmoth

Tinea trinotella

Waved Umber *year first

Pale Oak Beauty *Garden first

Nutmeg

Cochylis dubitana

Incurvaria masculella

Plutella xylostella *year first

Hofmannophila pseudospretella

Cydia pomonella *year first

Muslin Moth

Esperia sulphurella

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

GARDEN TOTAL:-

86 species......57 macro, 29 micro