Hook-tips and Highflyers

Just a quick selection of highlights from the garden trap in the past week. No doubt more to come...

Oak Hook-tip

Oak-tree Pug; note the rounded discal spot, and the more compact wing shape. Unusually, Oak-tree is one of the most common moths in my trap at this time of year, vastly outnumbering all other Pugs...

Light Brocades are also regulars in late spring, but I've never seen one with a wing deformity like this...

May Highflyer...

Lime Hawk-moth, always a favourite with the family!

Here pussy, pussy, pussy.....

I knew as soon as I put the light on yesterday evening, that I was in for a great catch.  It was a very hot day, and cloud was just forming overhead.  The cloud may not have stayed around all night, but it was still warm enough for just a T-shirt when I closed down the trap just before first light. 

When I close down the trap, I stuff the entrance with kitchen towel, so I can put the trap in the shed, and open it up later in the day after work.  This has always worked fine, but those little devils that are Cockchafers were able to push out the paper this morning!  As a result, a few moths got away, and got lost in the piles of garbage in the shed.  Who knows what was there, but I should definitely not complain! 

The reason being that despite not quite as many moths as I expected (26 sp), I did manage to get two brand new species, and a further new one for the garden, an amazing result!  Amongst these was a long sought-after species as far as I'm concerned - a Puss moth.  Result!  The other brand new one was a single Grey Birch, and the garden tick was another Birch feeder - a Birch Mocha.  I also got a striking micro, Acleris literana.

23rd May:
9 Mottled Pug
3 Shuttle-shaped Dart
3 Brimstone
2 Common Wave NFY
2 Small Seraphim NFY
2 Light Brocade NFY
2 Common Pug NFY
1 Puss Moth NFM
1 Birch Mocha NFG
1 Narrow-winged Pug
1 Shears
1 Yellow-barred Brindle
1 Silver-ground Carpet NFY
1 Red Twin-spot Carpet
1 Tawny-barred Angle NFY
1 Poplar Grey NFY
1 Pebble Hook-tip NFY
1 Red-green Carpet NFY
1 Grey Birch NFM
1 Garden Carpet
1 Minor sp. (prob Marbled) NFY
1 Spruce Carpet NFY
1 Brindled Pug
1 Pebble Prominent
1 Iron Prominent NFY
1 Flame Shoulder

Plus loads of unidentifiable Pugs (prob mostly Mottled)!

Puss Moth

Spruce Carpet

Common Pug

Minor sp (prob Marbled)

Light Brocade

Small Seraphim

Red-green Carpet

Poplar Grey

Pebble Hook-tip

Grey Birch

Tawny-barred Angle

Common Wave

Silver-ground Carpet

Birch Mocha

 

Acleris literana

Festooned with success

As the weather has turned so warm, Paul Wheeler decided to do some trapping at Pewley Down last night. Although it was clear, the warm still air remained in situ, right up to 1:00 when we packed up. Under the light of Saturn, we kept a vigil on both traps, and they were almost constantly heaving with moths. Loads of highlights but I got two new species (the latter was even a lifer for the experienced Mr Wheeler!), which were a fantastic Festoon, and a stunning fresh Netted Pug. The other stars were heaps of Reddish Light Arches (50+), a few Lace Border (an also-ran now!), a Privet Hawk, and 7 Small Elephant Hawks.

Pewley Downs, 2nd June:
Small Dusty Wave
Middle-barred Minor
Common Swift
Clouded Silver
Barred Yellow
Reddish Light Arches
Light Brocade
Straw Dot
Heart and Dart
Treble Lines
Satin Wave
Green Carpet
Willow Beauty
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Scorched Carpet
Mottled Beauty
Light Arches
Small Elephant Hawk
Varied Coronet
Common Marbled Carpet
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Large Yellow Underwing
Iron Prominent
Dark Arches
Snout
Tawny Marbled Minor
Vine's Rustic
Privet Hawk
Clay
Cinnabar
Lesser Swallow Prominent
Light Emerald
Mottled Pug
Festoon*
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Blotched Emerald
Small White Wave
Peppered Moth (carbonaria)
Flame
Bright-line Brown-eye
Engrailed
Netted Pug*
Brimstone
Lobster Moth
Marbled Minor
Total macros: 47

White Point

Varied Coronet

Reddish Light Arches

carbonaria Peppered Moth

Mottled Beauty

Light Brocade

Lace Border

Engrailed

Cinnabar

Blotched Emerald

Netted Pug

Festoon

Small Elephant Hawk

Privet Hawk

Some new friends!

Migrants in the Garden

Gale force winds and a dying lawn have discouraged me from putting out the trap in the garden recently, but with a lazy night in and no plans, I figured I might as well attempt with the trap one last time in April.
It was more about quality rather than quantity when I collected the trap in at 1am, with a pretty low total of 8 moths of 7 species caught. Luckily though, the main highlights saved the day (or night?!), a Pearly Underwing, and a Light Brocade.

The Brocade is a pretty common species in the garden, but doesn't usually appear until mid to late May-warmer than average temperatures must have encouraged earlier emergence...

The Pearly Underwing was completely unexpected. Its a migrant from Europe, which reaches Britain in small numbers (with influxes now and then) mainly in the autumn, so must have blown here in the strong winds. The moth was pretty worn, but the large size, and outward shaping of the forewings towards the tip make it pretty distinctive, and considering the distance its travelled, I think we can let it off for looking a bit drab!

The only other moths of note was a Diamond-back Moth, another migrant moth from Europe, and...

Cochylis atricapitana...

Swammerdamia pyrella...

No puns, just great moths

Sorry about the lack of updates, I have been having camera problems.

I had a bit of a disaster three nights ago when someone managed to jog the plug loose for the trap, so it probably only ran for a couple of hours. As a result I got seven moths. The next night was much better, with a very fresh Light Brocade amongst the catch, but nothing else of particular note. Although it was nice to get my second records of Dwarf and Foxglove Pugs.

Agreggate for 2nd and 3rd June:

7 Heart and Dart

3 Common Marbled Carpet

2 Treble Lines

2 Pale Tussock

2 Common Pug

2 Peppered Moth

1 Orange Footman

1 Spectacle

1 Spruce Carpet

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Green Carpet

1 Light Brocade

1 Dwarf Pug

1 Clouded-bordered Brindle

1 Red Twin-spot Carpet

1 Scalloped Hazel

1 Foxglove Pug

Spectacle

Light Brocade

Last night was a lot better, with 35 moths of 23 species. Unfortunately, the star moth was faded. When I first found my first ever Satin Lutestring, it was outside the trap in the morning, and it was in pristine condition. I just potted it, but did not ID it as I had to go to work. When I got home, I found it floundering on its back, with lots of scales littering the pot! I hope I still got the ID right. Also among the highlights were new-for-year Small Seraphim, Grey Pine Carpet, Light Emerald, a Minor (probably Marbled), and my second ever Ingrailed Clay.

4th June:

5 Heart and Dart

4 Treble Lines

3 Common Marbled Carpet

3 Common Pug

2 Mottled Pug

1 Buff-tip

1 Pale Prominent

1 Orange Footman

1 Flame Shoulder

1 Grey Pine Carpet NFY
1 May Highflyer

1 Light Emerald NFY

1 Small Phoenix

1 Flame Carpet

1 Small Seraphim NFY

1 White Ermine

1 Coxcomb Prominent

1 Oak-tree Pug

1 Green Carpet

1 Pale Tussock

1 Minor sp. NFY

1 Ingrailed Clay NFY

1 Satin Lutestring NFG

Satin Lutestring

Ingrailed Clay

Trapping the Light fantastic

Two nights ago I was discouraged when I opened the trap to just ten moths (although one of them was a Poplar Hawk-moth). But last night made up for that as cloudy skies yielded three brand new species to me, including a stunning Light Brocade. The others being Shears and Yellow-barred Brindle. What next?!

Aggregate catch for 25 and 26 May (NFG = new for garden, NFY = new for year):

Treble Lines 5
Common Pug 3
Heart and Dart 3
Mottled Pug 2
Garden Carpet 2
Oak-tree Pug 2
Poplar Hawk-moth 1 NFY
Flame Shoulder 1 NFY
Pale Tussock 1
Great Prominent 1
Buff-tip 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Orange Footman 1
Common Wave 1 NFY
Maiden's Blush 1
Light Brocade 1 NFG
Yellow-barred Brindle 1 NFG
Shears 1 NFG

Poplar Hawk-moth

A well marked Common Pug

And an unusual angle of the same

Common Wave

Yellow-barred Brindle

Shears

Light Brocade