9th Sept 2012 .. At last, something different !

Very warm last night but windy.
I'm down to one trap now which will continue henceforth.
My garden is a tad too small to support two traps and it takes so much time to log it all.
Not only that, looking at past records has convinced me that there is no gain species-wise, but the numbers of common species goes up and it gives me no pleasure to record an extra 30 Large Yellow Underwings or Hebrew Characters.

This year has been poor with many expected species missing from the year list but last night produced a third record of Frosted Orange for the garden....

0015 Orange Swift
0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella
0658 Carcina quercana (Below)

0658 Carcina quercana, sprucing up an antenna with its foreleg

0874 Blastobasis lacticolella
0998 Epiphyas postvittana x 2
1048 Acleris variegana
1309 Agriphila geniculea
1348 Parapoynx stratiotata (Below)

1524 Emmelina monodactyla
1728 Garden Carpet x 2
1776 Green Carpet
1906 Brimstone Moth
1937 Willow Beauty x 3
2087 Turnip Moth x 2, (Below)

2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart x 3
2107 Large Yellow Underwing x 27
2109 Lesser Yellow Underwing x 3
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character x 18
2134 Square-spot Rustic x 16
2306 Angle Shades
2353 Flounced Rustic x 11
2364 Frosted Orange *year first
2384 Vine's Rustic x 12
2389 Pale Mottled Willow x 6
2441 Silver Y

5th Sept 2012 ... Waiting

A wee bit chilly last night at 6 deg.
Nothing to add to the garden list.
Best moth last night was a second generation Early Thorn ...

The usual Large Yellow Underwings, Flounced Rustic, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic and Pale Mottled Willow.

3 x Angle Shades and a Spectacle.
Burnished Brass on 4th Aug.
Very few micro moths, except Agriphila geniculea
It's amazing that anything at all can fly through the garden which is now innundated with Garden Spiders ....

Garden Spider

The next couple of days look real good for Bedfordshire weatherwise so Matt and I are going to drop a trap in Home Wood maybe saturday night.

New micros for The Dells garden

Here are the latest batch of new micros for The Dells garden.
 I.D's and gen.det. by David Manning VC 30 micro recorder.
G.F. garden first
Y.F. year first

July 31st .. 0568 .. Coleophora versurella  G.F.
Aug  1st ... 0756 .. Parachronistis albiceps G.F.
Aug  1st ... 1097 .. Endothenia gentianaeana Y.F.
Aug  7th ... 0521 .. Coleophora conyzae G.F.
Aug  8th ... 0565 .. Coleophora saxicolella G.F.
Aug  8th ... 1245 .. Grapholita janthinana Y.F.
Aug  9th ... 0765 .. Teleiodes vulgella Y.F.
Aug 10th ...0898 .. Limnaecia phragmitella Y.F.
Aug 10th ...0936 .. Cochylimorpha straminea G.F.
Aug 10th ...1099 .. Endothenia marginana Y.F.
Aug 14th ...0495 .. Coleophora spinella G.F.
Aug 14th ...0789 .. Bryotropha domestica Y.F.
Aug 14th ...1022a  Cnephasia pumicana G.F. VC30 first
Aug 17th ...0522 .. Coleophora lineolea G.F.
Aug 17th ...1139 .. Epinotia tenerana G.F.
Aug 22nd ..0965 .. Cochylis hybridella Y.F.
Aug 23rd ..0215 .. Nemapogon granella G.F.
Aug 29th ..0674 .. Depressaria badiella Y.F.

Total species for garden (macro + micro) now stands at 548
Macro records from July 2009
Micro records from January 2010

Interesting gen. dets,

It's been a bit quiet around the traps for the last few nights.
Clear skies and a full moon are not ideal but at least it's been warmer.
Cochylis hybridella was added to the year list on 2nd Sept.
Cochylis hybridella 22nd Aug 
from a batch sent to micro recorder replaces the above record.
Depressaria badiella (99% sure) will need to be confirmed in last nights haul.
Apart from those, the traps have been mostly full of tired looking brown creatures.

I got some gen. det. results through which added a couple of species.
The first from macro recorders Andy and Melissa Banthorpe from a batch of five Common Rustic aggs. that I collected on 6th August.
Results of gen. det. were ... Common Rustic, two male and two female, but the good news was a Lesser Common Rustic male was found. Thanks guys !
It got better, as I received an email from county micro recorder David Manning.
A new moth for VC30 .. 1022a Cnephasia pumicana.
This used to be quite a common moth (1022 Cnephasia pasiuana) but was recently split into two species so well done Mr M for being up to speed and spotting it !
Being a cautious man, David sent a genitalia structure slide  to micro mothing's equivalent of "The Man from Del Monte", John Langmaid, who said "Yes".
(You have to be a certain age to remember The Man from Del Monte and David is probably too young)

As I walked out into the garden this morning to check the traps, a strangely shaped creature buzzed around my head that looked like nothing I had ever seen.
Until it settled on my small pond surround.
Mystery solved....
It was a wasp flying around carrying a Large Yellow Underwings wing....

31st Aug ..Last of the Summer Whine

That's another errm Summer over.

Last night more than doubled the previous nights temperature at 11deg C although there was an annoying drizzle during "the hour of the moth".
There is an overlap between generations of Brimstone Moth, with 2 large and 6 much smaller, fresher ones around the traps
The intention was to run just one trap from now on but I couldn't stop myself from flicking on the two... OCD is alive and well...

The Count :-
  9 .. 0015 Orange Swift
  3 .. 0647 Hofmannophila pseudospretella
  7 .. 0648 Endrosis sarcitrella
  2 .. 0697 Agonopterix arenella
  1 .. 0874 Blastobasis lacticolella
  1 .. 0964 Cochylis dubitana
  4 .. 0998 Epiphyas postvittana
  1 .. 1048 Acleris variegana
  1 .. 1288 Alucita hexadactyla
  1 .. 1305 Agriphila tristella
16 .. 1309 Agriphila geniculea
  6 .. 1331 Acentria ephemerella
  3 .. 1342 Eudonia angustea
  1 .. 1361 Pyrausta aurata
  2 .. 1524 Emmelina monodactyla
  1 .. ------ Coleophora for gen. det.
  1 .. 1713 Riband Wave
  7 .. 1728 Garden Carpet
  1 .. 1742 Yellow Shell
  1 .. 1764 Common Marbled Carpet

  1 .. 1776 Green Carpet
  2 .. 1862 Double-striped Pug
  8 .. 1906 Brimstone Moth
  1 .. 1914 Dusky Thorn *year first

  7 .. 1937 Willow Beauty
  2 .. 1961 Light Emerald
  1 .. 2061 Buff Ermine
  3 .. 2087 Turnip Moth
  4 .. 2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart
21 .. 2107 Large Yellow Underwing
  5 .. 2109 Lesser Yellow Underwing
  1 .. 2110 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
14 .. 2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character
  9 .. 2134 Square-spot Rustic
  1 .. 2145 Nutmeg
  1 .. 2154 Cabbage Moth
  1 .. 2269 Centre-barred Sallow *year first

  3 .. 2293 Marbled Beauty
  6 .. 2297x Copper Underwing agg.
  4 .. 2299 Mouse Moth
15 .. 2353 Flounced Rustic
  9 .. 2384 Vine's Rustic
  2 .. 2441 Silver Y
  1 .. 2474 Straw Dot