12th May '16 ... Toadflax Brocade

Toadflax Brocade turned up last night.
This is a Red Data Book moth and a regular in my VC30 TL14 garden since 2011.
Numbers are increasing so good news for this neat little moth.

Toadflax Brocade

13th May ... Latest garden Moths

Here are the latest garden moth catches for the last 6 nights.
Off to Rhodes tomorrow morning for a week, so it would be nice to record 5 more species for the year list tonight and hit the 100 mark.
...........
Last nights weather conditions were pretty dire and not only didn't I get the 5 "new for year" species to notch up the 2015 century, I didn't even record 5 moths of any species !
Oh well ..
αντίο, θα επανέλθω σε επτά ημέρες

May 18th
5.7 deg. C. min
Cold, overcast, strong winds
1920 Scalloped Hazel, 1
2063 Muslin Moth, 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 1


May 17th
8.5 deg. C min.
Overcast, Light Breeze, Early a.m. rain = wet traps
409a Argyresthia trifasciata, 1, year first

409a, Argyresthia trifasciata

0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 1
0697 Agonopterix arenella, 1
0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 1
1279 Dichrorampha acuminatana, 1
1728 Garden Carpet, 5
1776 Green Carpet, 1, year first
1781 Small Waved Umber, 2
1817 Foxglove Pug, 1, year first

1817, Foxglove Pug

1834 Common Pug, 4
1906 Brimstone Moth, 2
1920 Scalloped Hazel, 1
2087 Turnip Moth, 2 (3) one to check *
2089 Heart and Dart, 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 7
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character, 1, year first

2126, Setaceous Hebrew Character

2157 Light Brocade, 1, year first

2157, Light Brocade

2279 Sycamore, 1
2384 Vine's Rustic, 1
* A probable Turnip Moth to be checked

May 16th
6 deg. C min.
Clear sky, fresh
0808 Platyedra subcinerea, 1
0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 1
1834 Common Pug, 1
1920 Scalloped Hazel, 1
2028 Pale Tussock, 1
2063 Muslin Moth, 2
2087 Turnip Moth, 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 7
2154 Cabbage Moth, 1
2190 Hebrew Character, 2
2223 Toadflax Brocade, 1
2380 Treble Lines, 1, year first

2380 Treble Lines

2384 Vine's Rustic, 1
2389 Pale Mottled Willow, 1

May 15
12.2 deg. C min but feeling much cooler.
Overcast with occasional light rain.
0648 Endrosis sarcitrella, 2
0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 2
1428 Aphomia sociella, 1
1524 Emmelina monodactyla, 1
1728 Garden Carpet, 1
1862 Double-striped Pug, 1
1906 Brimstone Moth, 3
2000 Iron Prominent, 1, year first

2000, Iron Prominent

2089 Heart and Dart, 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 7
2223 Toadflax Brocade, 3
2384 Vine's Rustic, 1, year first

2384, Vine's Rustic

2389 Pale Mottled Willow, 2

May 14
6.7 deg. C. min.
Cold, wet, miserable. trap covers on.
Just 3 moths in the two traps, the worst mid May result ever.
1 each of :-
2063 Muslin Moth
2087 Turnip Moth
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart

May 13
4.9 deg C. min.
Cool and clear sky.
0247 Tinea trinotella, 1
0648 Endrosis sarcitrella, 1
0697 Agonopterix arenella, 1
0808 Platyedra subcinerea, 1
0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 1
1524 Emmelina monodactyla, 2
1819 Mottled Pug, 1
1834 Common Pug, 1
2063 Muslin Moth, 1
2089 Heart and Dart, 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 6
2154 Cabbage Moth, 1, year first

2154, Cabbage Moth

2223 Toadflax Brocade, 2

2223, Toadflax Brocade

2306 Angle Shades, 2
2450 Spectacle, 1

10th May 2015 ... Garden Moth Trap results

A warmer evening saw moth numbers up but not the big jump in "year firsts" that I was expecting.
There were 3 species added to the list though, Cinnabar, Carrion Moth and a Mallow Groundling.
0228 Monopis weaverella, 1, year first, (Carrion Moth)

0247 Tinea trinotella, 1, (Bird's-nest Moth)
0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella, 1, (Brown House Moth)
0648 Endrosis sarcitrella, 3, (White-shouldered House Moth)
0892 Mompha subbistrigella, 2, (Garden Cosmet)
0808 Platyedra subcinerea, 3, year first,  (Mallow Groundling)
Status:  Nationally Scarce B, but plentiful at The Dells...

808 Platyedra subcinerea

0998 Epiphyas postvittana, 4, (Light Brown Apple Moth)
1342 Eudonia angustea, 2, (Narrow-winged Grey)
1428 Aphomia sociella, 1, (Bee Moth)
1524 Emmelina monodactyla, 3, (Common Plume)
1834 Common Pug, 2
1862 Double-striped Pug, 4
1906 Brimstone Moth, 4
2063 Muslin Moth, 2
2069 Cinnabar, 1, year first
I must buff up the perspex on the skinner traps !
This one escaped before a decent pic could be taken.

2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 12
2190 Hebrew Character, 1
2223 Toadflax Brocade, 1

2nd May 2015 ... Latest moths from the garden

The warmer weather is welcome but there is always a price to pay at this time of year, rain covers are the order of the day.
The garden species list has reached 56 and here are the latest ...
29th April
Spectacle ...

 

30th April
Small Waved Umber ...

2nd May
Chinese Character ...

Turnip Moth ...

Toadflax Brocade ...

Toadflax Brocade is a Red Data Book species, commonly found in my garden both in Spring and Autumn.
Locally it is on the increase and I am lucky to record this neat little moth into double figures annually.
The foodplant is a mystery as there are no toadflax patches nearby.
The larva will happily munch Antirrhinums but there is none growing in the surrounding gardens, apart from the odd one or two, seemingly not enough to sustain the kind of population numbers found in my garden, so there may be a food source that is overlooked.
Any ideas ?
Another RDB moth that is regular in the garden is Small Ranunculus, which is also on the increase locally,30 plus were recorded in the garden last year.
The flight season is late April to October according to the literature, but at the Dells it is June/July and again in Sept/Oct when they overlap with Large Ranunculus.

21st Aug 2014 .. Some variety at last, plus a macro ID query

Something different to the usual brown stuff at last.

12 deg minimum and overcast with humidity and the overnight low of 12 deg was at sunrise.

Still plenty of brown stuff with a sharp increase of Large Yellow Underwing.

At their peak I average about 80 of these moth cockroaches a night with high counts topping the 100 mark.

Turnip Moth numbers are rising and there are still traps-ful of Straw Underwing and Vine's Rustic.

Shuttle-shaped Dart and Setaceous Hebrew Character have peaked and are in decline.

Common Rustics have all but finished.

20th Aug

Toadflax Brocade ...

 ... is one of my garden "stock" moths.

I have recorded this RDB species since 2009 and there has been a steady increase in numbers for both the May/June and July/August generations.

Not just in my garden as in 2009, but in other areas of the county and beyond which is good news for this attractive species. 

The food plant remains a mystery as I have only seen one Common Toadflax plant (Linaria vulgaris)in the area and that is a half a mile from my garden and no Pale Toadflax (Linaria repens).

After looking in the surrounding gardens, only a couple have a small patch of Snapdragons (  Antirrhinum ) which I know the larva will feed on after observing two larva that emerged from eggs that were laid in a pot.

So for 2 years I have planted  Snapdragon patches but to date have found no larva.

The family of plants which includes Linaria and antirrhinum is huge, so perhaps another foodplant will come to light, excuse the unintended pun.

From the 5th May ( everything was early this spring) I have recorded 14 in May and 5  to mid June.

The second generation appeared on 16th July with 6 in July and 3 to date in August.

Another of my "stock" moths is Small Ranunculus.

Again I had the monopoly on this species 5 years ago in these parts but I'm happy to say, not any more...

21st Aug

Small Ranunculus

Some more of last nights catch :-

Nephopterix angustella

Old Lady

Orange Sallow

Bulrush Wainscot, female

Cochylis hybridella

Unidentified ... ? a worn Dingy Shears ??

And a welcome night visitor ...

10th Aug 2014 ... Cooling down

After the big build up by the over dramatic people from Television Land, ex-hurricane Bertha passed through undramatically.
OK, we got wind and rain, how unusual !
The night was much cooler however, and as the evening sky cleared over Bedfordshire, a very large full "super" moon lit up the night garden and the temperature fell to 11 degrees.
Moth numbers were well down on both numbers and species.
Straw Underwing (28) Orange Swift (18) Setaceous Hebrew Character (17) Large Yellow Underwing (14) Turnip Moth (11) made up the bulk of the catch.
Common Rustic numbers have fallen sharply over the past couple of nights.
Best of the catch was a Toadflax Brocade with singles of Angle Shades, Common Wainscot, Spectacle, and a Lesser Swallow Prominent.

Toadflax Brocade

The previous evenings catch produced a worn Six-striped Rustic amongst a trap full of common brown stuff

31st July 2014 .. New garden micro moth ...

... 1134 Epinotia ramella
Probably overlooked in the past, being written off by my untrained eye as Epinotia bilunana.
Now that my eyes are slightly less untrained I am able to add this one to the garden micro list ...

Copper Underwing is in full flow at the moment.
I always check the underside of the hindwing for the first half dozen or so to separate Copper Underwing from Svensson's Copper Underwing until I have both, then I record them as aggregates.
Many a moth has left my garden with a bald head and less scales than when it entered.
Both species are now on my year list.

Last nights list :-
0227 ... Monopis laevigella .. nfy 1
0424 ... Yponomeuta evonymella 2
0455 ... Ypsolopha scabrella 1
0464 ... Plutella xylostella 5
0642 ... Batia unitella 1
0647 ... Hofmannophila pseudospretella 3
0697 ... Agonopterix arenella 2
0779  ... Bryotropha affinis 1
0787 ... Bryotropha terrella 3
0873 ... Blastobasis adustella 3
0874 ... Blastobasis lacticolella 1
801a ... Glechia senticetella 1
0888 ... Mompha propinquella 1
0937 ... Agapeta hamana 2
0972 ... Pandemis heparana 1
0985 ... Cacoecimorpha pronubana 1
0998 ... Epiphyas postvittana 12
1048 ... Acleris variegana 1
1134 ... Epinotia ramella gf 1
1207 ... Clavigesta purdeyi 1
1260 ... Cydia splendana 3
1261 ... Cydia pomonella 1
1293 ... Chrysoteuchia culmella 4
1294 ... Crambus pascuella 2
1304 ... Agriphila straminella 2
1305 ... Agriphila tristella nfy 1
1331 ... Acentria ephemerella 200+
1356 ... Evergestis forficalis 2
1361 ... Pyrausta aurata 6
1424 ... Endotricha flammealis 4
1524 ... Emmelina monodactyla 6
1699 ... Least Carpet 2
1713 ... Riband Wave 3
1728 ... Garden Carpet 1
1742 ... Yellow Shell 2
1781 ... Small Waved Umber 2
1803 ... Small Rivulet 1
1838 ... Tawny Speckled Pug 1
1862 ... Double-striped Pug 1
1906 ... Brimstone Moth 3
1937 ... Willow Beauty 1
1883 ... Yellow-barred Brindle 1
2000 ... Iron Prominent nfy 1
2061 ... Buff Ermine 4
2087 ... Turnip Moth 2
2092 ... Shuttle-shaped Dart 25
2102 ... Flame Shoulder 4
2107 ... Large Yellow Underwing 8
2109 ... Lesser Yellow Underwing 3
2110 ... Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 2
2111 ... Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 3
2126 ... Setaceous Hebrew Character 7
2145 ... Nutmeg 1
2154 ... Cabbage Moth 2
2155 ... Dot Moth 1
2223 ... Toadflax Brocade 1
2284x . Grey Dagger agg. 2
2293 ... Marbled Beauty 3
2297 ... Copper Underwing 3
2298 ... Svensson's Copper Underwing nfy 1
2299 ... Mouse Moth 1
2303 ... Straw Underwing 6
2321 ... Dark Arches 2
2343x . Common Rustic agg. 24
2361 ... Rosy Rustic nfy 2
2389 ... Pale Mottled Willow 1
2441 ... Silver Y 2
2450 ... Spectacle 1
Also 3 micros for ID including an Apotomis sp. which looks to be
1094 ... Apotomis capreana 1

Top to Bottom ...
Monopis laevigella
Agriphila tristella
Iron Prominent
Rosy Rustic
Toadflax Brocade
Apotomis capreana (to be confirmed) nfy pending ID

22nd July 2014 ... Plain sailing ...

Plain Pug has been around in numbers of late and thanks to the moth'ers who have been posting their pics, it made it easy to recognise my very first garden Plain Pug.

Lots of brown stuff in the traps that I have stopped counting for a while.
Shuttle-shaped Darts, Common Rustic aggs, Dark Arches, Yellow Underwings with Copper and Straw Underwings.
Instead I have just jotted down a selection with the emphasis on newcomers and the uncommon.
Selected Species:-
0294 Aspilapteryx tringipennella
0947 Aethes smeathmanniana
0964 Cochylis dubitana
1212 Rhyacionia pinicolana
1260 Cydia splendana
1348 Parapoynx stratiotata
1371 Sitachroa verticalis
1417 Pyralis farinalis
1637 Oak Eggar
1646 Oak Hook-tip (female)
1690 Small Bloodvein x 3
1702 Small Fan-footed Wave
1726 Large Twin-spot Carpet
1803 Small Rivulet
1816 Toadflax Pug
1830 Wormwood Pug
1842 Plain Pug
1858 V-pug
1862 Double-striped Pug
1894 Latticed Heath
1922 Swallow-tailed Moth
2009 Maple Prominent
2165 Small Ranunculus
2223 Toadflax Brocade
2289 Knot Grass
2292 Tree-lichen Beauty
2352 Dusky Sallow
2377 Fen Wainscot

Top to Bottom:-
Aethes smeathmanniana
Pyralis farinalis
Toadflax Brocade
Latticed Heath
Tree-lichen Beauty
Fen Wainscot

17th July 2014 . New county macro moth

Warm and humid conditions of late have seen the traps absolutely crawling with creatures, mostly moths.
An electrical storm with accompanying torrential rain at around 2am put a damper on proceedings but by then I had already racked up a good selection.
The undoubted highlight was a county first macro moth ....
KENT BLACK ARCHES, normally found on the south coast around to the East Anglian coast but appears to be slowly spreading inland.
Two female OAK EGGAR, one captured, one flying around the trap were followed by a stunning male inside the trap on the morning inspection.
Males are rarely seen, females are annual in the garden.
below :-
2076 Kent Black Arches

above:-
Would you care to dance ?  1637 Oak Eggar
below:-
No !

Too late mate, note the egg that rolled out of the capture pot .. top left
moving on ...
More year firsts ...
1978 ... PINE HAWK-MOTH

It was in pristine condition, but took the full force of the deluge as it sat below the gap in the skinner trap.
below ... A site first micro that will require gen det, either way it's a site first
My pick is ... 844 Syncopacma larseniella but it could equally be
847 . Syncopacma taeniolella

below ..
1380 . Phlyctaenia perlucidalis

1645 . Scalloped Hook-tip

2003 . Pebble Prominent

16th July
Year list additions
0873 . Blastobasis adustella
1108 . Lobesia obscisana
1304 . Agriphila straminella
2303 . Straw Underwing
The second generation of Toadflax Brocade is on the wing with singles on 16th and 17th ...
below:-
Toadflax Brocade

1108 . Lobesia obscesana