A little addition

17th August - whilst in the garden photographing the catch from Tuesday night in various natural locations I lost the Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix in the beans. I searched for it and whilst doing so brushed past a tiny micro which landed right next to the CFTT. I potted it up and fridged it to allow photographs.

I think it's Argyresthia brockeella. But I'm willing to accept any other offers! It's a garden first, whatever it is. I've never seen a coppery coloured micro here before. (Edit: The nice people at Back Garden Moths think that this is A. goedartella, which means it's not new for me, but a new addition for the garden)

 

Also had Mompha propinquella on the kitchen window tonight!

I'm off to Devon for a family holiday so this will be the last post for a week or so. Not allowed to take the trap, as it may keep everyone else on the campsite awake! Pah!

A poor show

A cloudy warm day gave way in the evening to cloudless skies and a bright clear moon, so numbers were well down on recent traps. The real highlight of the night came when my second Old Lady flew into the house about 9pm and started knocking itself out on the kitchen window. It was a different individual from the previous one, much fresher with full wings and scales, as the photos show. And I didn't spot the funky haircut on the previous Lady either!

Not many more highlights to report apart from a possible garden first of Agriphila selasella, but of course it could just be another A. tristella. I'm having fun trying to tell these two species apart?
EDIT: The nice people at BGM have confirmed that this is A. tristella.




Catch report for 16th August 2011 - 54 moths of 27 species (12 micros; 15 macros)
Agriphila inquinatella
Agriphila straminella x 3
Agriphila tristella x 8
Blastobasis adustella
Brown House-Moth
Campion
Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix
Common Carpet
Common Rustic agg.
Copper Underwing agg.
Dark Arches
Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix
Double-striped Pug
Eudonia mercurella
Large Yellow Underwing x 6
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x 6
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Marbled Beauty
Old Lady
Pale Mottled Willow
Scoparia ambigualis
Small Rivulet
Square-spot Rustic
Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla/milleridactyla
Trachycera advenella
Willow Beauty x 10

Saturday and Sunday night review

A quick catch up from over the weekend. I trapped both nights as I'm off on holiday next week and needed to get my fix of mothing in whilst the weather was promising. I also managed to replace my Actinic tube, so we're back in business! And Saturday proved that Actinic beats BLB hands down with 4 new for the garden and one new for the year.

This smashing Limespeck Pug was on my list since last year when I caught one elsewhere so I'm chuffed that I've got one on the garden list now! It's such a fine looking fellow! This tiny moth is Caloptilia syringella, another new for the garden.

Another new nicro for the garden list. This one is Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix. Right is a moth I saw in Devon last year, by chance a female (like this one) was flapping around the campsite. It's one I never expected to see in the garden, so I'm very pleased with this record!
Finally, this Garden Rose Tortrix was new for the year. Last year I caught nine, so I guess there'll be more of these to come!








Catch report 13th August 2011 - 123 moths of 42 species (20 micros; 22 macros)
Agriphila inquinatella x 5
Agriphila straminella x 14
Agriphila tristella x 12
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix x 2
Blastobasis adustella
Brimstone
Brown House-Moth x 2
Bryotropha domestica
Caloptilia syringella (New for Garden)
Campion
Carcina quercana
Catoptria falsella
Celypha striana
Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix (New for Garden)
Chrysoteuchia culmella x 2
Clay
Common Carpet
Common Marbled Carpet
Common Rustic agg x 6
Copper Underwing agg. x 2
Dark Arches x 3
Dipleurina lacustrata x 2
Double-striped Pug
Emmelina monodactyla
Eudonia mercurella
Garden Carpet x 3
Garden Rose Tortrix (New for Year)
Large Yellow Underwing x 20
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x 6
Light Brown Apple Moth
Limespeck Pug (New for Garden)
Marbled Beauty x 4
Orange Swift (New for Garden)
Riband Wave
Scoparia ambigualis
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Shuttle-shaped Dart x 2
Spectacle
Square-spot Rustic x 2
Twenty-plumed Moth
Willow Beauty x 11
Yellow Shell

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Sunday was slightly cooler than Saturday with a little more breeze, so when I went out to pot up whatever moths there were I had quite a surprise. As I stood watching I could hear the flapping of something BIG in the hedgerow over the trap. It got louder and then started crashing round the sheds. I shone the torch on it and thought initially it must be some sort of Hawk-moth due to it's size. My heart was in my mouth as it came tantalisingly close to the trap but swung off at the last minute, so I got myself a large pot and chased after it. I lost it in the beans, but then it came round the back of me and round to the light again this time landing in the hedge. I quickly potted it and after a short while it calmed down and I could get a look at it!

A bit battered admittedly - but a brilliant record of Old Lady! Look at the size of it compared to Jordan's hand...

The only other couple of highlights were Lesser Yellow Underwing almost lost in its larger cousins. This Flounced Rustic (right) is only the second garden record so it was a nice sight after going through eggbox after eggbox of Willow Beauties, 19 in total!

Catch report for 14th August 2011 - 72 moths of 25 species (10 micros; 15 macros)

Agriphila inquinatella x 3

Agriphila straminella x 7
Agriphila tristella x 9
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
Blastobasis adustella
Brimstone
Campion
Copper Underwing agg.
Currant Pug x 3
Dipleurina lacustrata
Double-striped Pug
Emmelina monodactyla
Eudonia mercurella
Flounced Rustic (New for Year)
Garden Carpet x 2
Garden Rose Tortrix
Large Yellow Underwing x 5
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing x 3
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Marbled Beauty x 3
Old Lady (NEW FOR ME!)
Scoparia ambigualis x 2
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Square-spot Rustic x 2
Willow Beauty x 19

Green with envy

Thursday night conditions were pretty perfect for mothing, not many nights are spot-on but this was one. So I was gutted that I'd not had chance to replace the broken Actinic and had to use the BLB again. I knew I wouldn't get as many moths, it doesn't seem to have the 'pull' that the actinic does but it did manage to produce 2 new for the garden...one of which was a real stunner!

This Scarce Silverlines was potted just before I went to bed, and as it was flapping around in the pot, I initially thought it was an Emerald species. But when it stopped and showed me the lines on its forewings I couldn't think what it could be. It also has pure white hindwings which none of the emeralds have so I went to bed in confusion. In the morning it had settled into this position and I knew straight away what it was! And it completes the Silverlines duo, after catching its hairier cousin - Green Silverlines - earlier this year.

This is my second newbie of the night - Agriphila inquinatella. Not quite as stunning as the Silverlines but equally as welcome in my garden! I got 5 of them altogether, so I guess there must have been a hatch of them. I'm really getting into the micros this year, my eye for details seems a bit sharper so the smaller moths are really tumbling onto the garden list.

This little plume - Amblyptilia acanthadactyla - turned up too. This is a slightly more well marked plume, although the photo isn't great. This is the second one for the year. This Square-spot Rustic (right) is a new for the year.


I also caught a Copper Underwing, and after being very bold about this species and the very similar Svensson's Copper Underwing a few post ago, I'm retracting all my confidence! I read a post on Ben Sale's blog Herts and Essex Moths in which he explains that most of the external features about this species pair are pretty much unreliable. So all my Coppers have been relegated to Copper Underwing agg....until someone comes up with a fool proof way of spotting Svensson's!

Catch report for 11th August 2011 - 97 moths of 32 species (16 micros; 16 macros)
Acrobasis consociella
Agriphila inquinatella x 5 (New for Me)
Agriphila straminella x 12
Agriphila tristella x 3
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix
Brown House-Moth x 3
Bryotropha domestica
Bud Moth
Common Carpet
Common Rustic agg x 9
Copper Underwing agg.
Currant Pug
Dark Arches x 4
Diamondback Moth
Dipleurina lacustrata x 6
Garden Carpet
Large Yellow Underwing x 14
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Marbled Beauty x 6
Red-barred Tortrix
Riband Wave
Ruby Tiger
Scarce Silverlines
Scoparia ambigualis
Shuttle-shaped Dart x 3
Small Rivulet
Square-spot Rustic
Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla
Udea lutealis x 2
Willow Beauty x 10
Ypsolopha scabrella

Out again tonight (Saturday) with a NEW ACTINIC BULB!! Looking good so far!

Broken dreams...

Disaster struck early on Saturday. My clumsy dad knocked the actinic tube off the table and it smashed on the conservatory floor! Oopsy! Of course I didn't see him till Saturday teatime so I didn't have time to replace it.
With the actinic out of action, Sunday saw me bring out the BLB. But as conditions were not ideal I didn't hold out much hope. It was cooler than of late, with a morning temperature of just 10 degrees. The quantity certainly reflected the weather (and the alternative bulb?) but I did manage a bit of quality.

This neatly marked Agriphila latistria is the first for the garden and is the fourth Agriphila on my garden list this year! This Dotted Clay is a new for the year and only the second garden record. It's markings had me foxed for a while, but after reviewing several websites I'm confident this is correct.

This new for the year Small Rivulet is a bit of a late-comer compared to last year. I had caught five already by the same date in 2010! But as I'm discovering, some species have turned up early this year compared to last, whereas some haven't appeared on the list yet that seemed common enough last year. That's what is making this year's recording so interesting!

Other interesting moths to turn up were this Double-striped Pug, which despite its size is a very pretty little moth. This Light Brown Apple Moth was huge, much bigger than those I caught last year. Well in excess of 10mm! Finally, the trap was graced with the cracking Emmelina monodactyla - a great name for a great moth. Me and Jordan always refer to this one as a girl, and we always call her Emmelina! She's been a regular in the garden for both years. Just look at those amazing wings!

Catch report for 7th August 2011 - 26 moths of 17 species (5 micros ; 12 macros)
Agriphila latristria (New for Me)
Agriphila straminella x 5
Campion
Currant Pug
Dark Arches x 2
Dipleurina lacustrata
Dotted Clay (New for Year)
Double-striped Pug
Emmelina monodactyla
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Light Brown Apple Moth
Marbled Beauty
Pale Mottled Willow
Riband Wave
Uncertain
Small Rivulet (New for Year)
Willow Beauty x 5

Catch up - Monday and Friday nights

After a bonanza on Monday night I was left spending all my spare time on Tuesday photographing and listing. I was then away on the Isle of Wight for a disastrous trip which involved my truck breaking down and having to spend all day waiting for the (very knowledgable and friendly) guys from Stag Lane Motors to tow me back to their garage and hopefully get it fixed.

So, finally I have managed to id all my micros from Monday, 7 new ones for me, a new for Garden record (Bird-cherry Ermine) and a further 6 new species for the year.

Here are the new visitors:

Bucculatrix thoracella	Batia unitella	Apodia bifractella
Horse Chestnut Leaf-Miner	Scoparia subfusca	Helcystogramma rufescens
Pine Leaf-mining Moth

This Bird-cherry Ermine (left) was the first for my garden following a record from elsewhere last year. This Rosy Rustic (right) was my second garden record and the first for this year. This moth is a real cracker, but the photo doesn't do it justice (don't I say that about most of my photos?)


Catch report for Monday 1st August 2011 - 236 moths of 62 species (36 micros; 26 macros)
Acleris forsskaleana x 2
Acrobasis consociella (New for Year)
Agapeta hamana
Agriphila straminella x 47
Agriphila tristella x 4
Apodia bifractella (New for Me)
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix
Batia unitella (New for Me)
Bird-cherry Ermine x 2 (New for Garden)
Blastobasis adustella x 2 (New for Year)
Bright-line Brown-eye
Brimstone x 2
Brown House-Moth x 7
Bryotropha affinis x 3
Bryotropha domestica x 3
Bryotropha senectella
Bryotropha terrella x 2
Bucculatrix nigricomella
Bucculatrix thoracella (New for Me)
Bud Moth x 3
Campion
Carcina quercana
Catoptria pinella
Chrysoteuchia culmella
Clepsis consimiliana x 3
Codling Moth
Common Carpet x 3
Common Footman
Common Rustic agg x 7
Copper Underwing
Dark Arches x 8
Diamondback Moth
Dipleurina lacustrata x 31
Dun-bar
Eudonia mercurella x 7
Flame Shoulder
Heart and Dart
Helcystogramma rufescens (New for Me)
Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner (New for Me)
Large Yellow Underwing x 9
Lesser Yellow Underwing x 3 (New for Year)
Marbled Beauty x 24
Marbled Minor agg.
Mottled Rustic
Orchard Ermine (New for Year)
Pine Leaf-mining Moth (New for Me)
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
Riband Wave x 10
Rosy Minor
Rosy Rustic (New for Year)
Ruby Tiger x 4
Scoparia ambigualis x 6
Scoparia subfusca (New for Me)
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Single-dotted Wave
Small Phoenix
Trachycera advenella x 2 (New for Year)
Udea lutealis x 2
Uncertain
Water Veneer x 3
Willow Beauty x 4
Yellow Shell

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Friday night wasn't quite such a roaring success as Monday, with temperatures down, and clearer skies. I was also out on the town for the night which meant that I wasn't patrolling the sheds and sheets so only a few were potted when i came home a little intoxicated!

87 moths of 20 species (6 micros; 14 macros) was a poor showing, but highlights included my second record this year of Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, this very well marked Pale Mottled Willow, and a not so well marked Shaded Broadbar. Micros included two more Agriphila tristella.

True Love is found

Chatsworth Park 31st July 2011

After a very generous offer of accompanying IanG on a camping/moth-trapping session to Chatsworth Park, me and Jordan joined him just after 8pm on Sunday night in the main car park. After a short recce to find a good spot, we decided on a spot near the woods on the east side of the river/road. Ian went higher up the hill to the fenceline only 20m from the woods, whereas I chose a stand of oak trees lower down, just to provide a bit of variety (and so I didn't have to carry all the kit up the hill, eh Ian?)

The night boded well when we were setting up our tents and kicking tons of crambids out of the grasses. The weather was absolutely perfect, still, cloudy, dry and feeling heavy. Our hopes were high! I wasn't to be let down, no less than 9 new species for me - 4 micros and 5 macros.

The star of the show I think has to go to these two fantastic moths. The first new moth to tumble was this Antler Moth (left). Both our traps attracted this species around the same time, 10.30pm. Both colour forms were observed and by the end of the night my little 15W Actinic had picked up 6 of these little crackers. The other good looking moth was this True Lover's Knot (right). This was found later (towards my bedtime) about 11.30pm but again I found more in the trap and counted 8 in total.

After only a short time the crambids (along with thousands of flies, midges, beetles, caddisflies etc) were buzzing round the traplights, so many that at some points it was difficult to get closer than a few feet without breathing them in! In between trying to ignore the crambids, as there was just too many to count, we did find the Muslin Footman. It's wings are almost transparent and looks so delicate. The last two newbies for me were this Ear Moth, which is a beautful orangey colour that doesn't really do it justice in this photo. I also caught four Six-striped Rustic, again another subtly coloured moth that a photo doesn't really bring across.

The new micros for me were this Eupoecilia angustana, a Catoptria margaritella, which I managed to spot in amongst the crambids resting on the perspex and initially thought it was C. pinella and was going to let it find it's own way into the trap. Thank goodness I didn't! I also trapped but couldn't photograph an Agriphila selasella as it was too quick off the mark (at least for me at 5am!), but this one did hang around - Acleris aspersana.

The full list doesn't include at least 150+ crambids which simply could not be counted, they were just everywhere! Ian had much more than me, he was using a 125W MV bulb. Check out his blog here - Derby Moths

Catch report for 31st July 2011 - 71 moths of 33 species (12 micros; 21 macros) plus too many crambids
Acleris aspersana (New for Me)
Agapeta hamana
Agriphila selasella x 2 (New for Me)
Agriphila straminella x 6
Ancylis achatana
Antler Moth x 6 (New for Me)
Brimstone
Catoptria margaritella (New for Me)
Common Footman
Common Rustic agg
Crambus pascuella
Dipleurina lacustrata x 5
Double Square-spot
Dun-bar x 2
Ear Moth x 2 (New for Me)
Eupoecilia angustana (New for Me)
Green Carpet
July Highflyer x 2
Large Yellow Underwing x 9
Muslin Footman x 2 (New for Me)
Pammene fasciana x 2
Red-barred Tortrix
Riband Wave
Scalloped Hook-tip
Shoulder-striped Wainscot
Six-striped Rustic x 4 (New for Me)
Smoky Wainscot
Swallow Prominent
True Lover's Knot x 8 (New for Me)
V Pug
Water Veneer
Ruby Tiger