The Best Numbers Seem to Have Worn Out...

Numbers are going down, and down, which is not what should happen at this time of year! Luckily, quality is staying high, and I got several new for years last night including a Cabbage moth, and a Brown Rustic, but unfortunately, except the Cabbage, most the best moths were worn. Also, yet another probable Middle-barred Minor appeared.

11th June:
10 Heart and Dart
3 Ingrailed Clay
2 Brown Silver-line
2 Shears
2 May Highflyer
1 Green Carpet
1 Brimstone
1 Middle-barred Minor
1 Marbled White Spot NFY
1 Freyer's Pug
1 Cabbage moth NFY
1 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Brown Rustic NFY
1 Buff-tip
1 Minor sp.
1 Small Seraphim
1 pug yet to ID

Its amazing what you notice when you get into mothing. Before, I would in no way have detected this little jumble of twigs on my recycling box. Now, thanks to recent reports by Ken and others, I managed to distinguish it as the larval case of the micro Psyche casta.

Psyche casta



Green Carpet (or should that be white carpet!)

Marbled White Spot


probable Middle-barred Minor

Brown Rustic (it looked more convincing in the flesh, honest!)

Cabbage moth

A few year-ticks

I had the trap on for a couple of hours last night while our daughter was out at a gig (and therefore a late night).
I watched lots of moths flying around the trap with lots of flies and a bat but there wasn't a great catch.
The following were new for the year:
green carpet

shoulder-striped wainscot


dark sword-grass

heart & dart

grey pine carpet

The dark sword-grass is an immigrant species as is the silver_Y


I also found my first large yellow underwing of the year in the garden earlier.

Not a moth but I was interested to see a dragon-fly larva emerge from our garden pond, climb the wall and 'release' a black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).

31st May- NE Surrey

Had my best trapping session of the year last night, with near perfect conditions.

1 Grey Pine Carpet

1 Green Carpet

1 Common Marbled Carpet

2 Triple Lines

1 Silver Y

1 Light Emerald

2 White Ermine

1 Willow Beauty

1 Pale Mottled Willow

1 Heart and Dart

2 Flame Shoulder

In the way of Micros:

6 Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana

2 Pyrausta aurata- Swept from thyme

Grey Pine Carpet...

Green Carpet...

Treble Lines...

Heart and Dart...

A very worn Flame Shoulder...

Light Emerald...

Cheers, Bill

Chafers don't Hog precedings at Norbury Park

I just had to be away for the week when it started to warm up didn't I! As a result I have not trapped in my garden for ages (I'll hopefully rectify that this evening), but I managed to get a fix from the mothing drug last night, and what a dramatic one it was.

I went to Norbury Park and trapped til 1am with David Gardner. The main surprise of the night was the shear number of Cockchafers. I think we got to about 50 come the end! They really were quite an inconvenience to say the least. Halfway through the night we also had a visit from a Hedgehog, and we were willing it over to help us clear the trap of Beetles!

Onto the moths, and we got 37 macros in the end, including a few surprises. I managed to get eight brand new species during the course of the night too. An interesting haul of Great Prominent also.

The final list (* is new to me):

Mocha

Coronet (a dark form)

Treble Lines*

Small White Wave* x 5

Mottled Pug

Brindled Pug x 3

Pebble Hook-tip x 2

Common Carpet x 2

Pale Tussock x 3

Purple Bar x 2

Clay Triple-lines x 2

Nut-tree Tussock x 4

Brown Silver-lines* x 2

Red-green Carpet

Small Waved Umber x 2

Water Carpet

Scalloped Hazel x 2

Currant Pug*

Treble-bar

Marbled Brown* x 6

Common White Wave

Coxcomb Prominent x 2

Silver-ground Carpet*

White Ermine
Pale Prominent

Flame Shoulder x 2

Oak Nycteoline

Scorched Carpet x 2

Least Black Arches x 2

Flame Carpet x 2

Brimestone x 5

Red Twin-spot Carpet x 4

Great Prominent x 10

Green Carpet x 16

Pretty Chalk Carpet

Waved Umber* x 2
White-pinion Spotted* x 7

Apologies for the poor shots, they were very much done on the spur of the moment.

Our late night visitor...

Waved Umber

Small White Wave

Pretty Chalk Carpet

White-pinion Spotted

Pebble Hook-tip

Pale Tussock

Oak Nycteoline

The Mocha

Marbled Brown

Great Prominent

Green Carpet

Coxcomb Prominent

Clay Triple-lines

Cockchafers

The full trap!