A Fine Figure of Beauty

Still an absence of cloud in the sky at the moment (looks like that will be rectified in the next few days), but the warm temps continue to bring my fantastic new trap into its own.  Last night, I got the most species in the trap this year (30), which included another new moth to me, and yet another garden tick in addition.  Poplar feeders are quite a scarcity in my garden, so it was nice to get my first ever Figure of 80, alongside my first Pine Beauty for the garden, just a few days after seeing my first adult at Hagthorne. 

28th May:
6 Shuttle-shaped Dart
5 Common Marbled Carpet
5 Brimstone
3 Buff-tip
2 Scalloped Hazel
2 Orange Footman
2 Poplar Grey
2 Common Carpet NFY
1 Lobster Moth NFY
1 Treble Lines NFY
1 Pine Beauty NFG
1 Peppered Moth
1 Pale Prominent NFY
1 Grey Pine Carpet
1 Silver-ground Carpet
1 White Point NFY
1 Red Twin-spot Carpet
1 Pebble Hook-tip
1 Marbled White-spot NFY
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Small Seraphim
1 Vine's Rustic NFY
1 Common Pug
1 Figure of 80 NFM
1 Pebble Prominent
1 Red-green Carpet
1 White-pinion Spotted
1 Green Carpet
1 Angle Shades
1 Silver Y

Common Carpet

 Pebble Hook-tip

Figure of 80 (the mark which gives the moth its name is upside down)

Silver Y

Vine's Rustic

White Point

Pale Prominent

Treble Lines

Lobster Moth

Pine Beauty

Marbled White-spot

I'm sure some of you guys are trapping (Billy, Angela, and Ken!), lets hear how you're doing!

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

A brief respite....

Despite all my best intentions to put a trap out every day I was home, the miserable weather got the better of me.  But a bright sunshiney day yesterday, and an Early Grey on the office window at work, persuaded me to switch it on last night.  I was quite surprised by what I found this morning:

2 x Frosted Green
1 x Lunar Marbled Brown
1 x Green Carpet
1 x Lesser Swallow Prominent
1 x Maiden's Blush
 1 x Pebble Hook-tip

Lesser Swallow Prominent

Maiden's Blush

Pebble Hook-tip

Year list gradually building

I've had a few more common species over the last night or two - plus my third ever seraphim, which is not supposed to be common but seems to be more so this year.

Seraphim

white ermine

small phoenix

pebble hook-tip

oak hook-tip

pebble prominent

Possible Monopis weaverella

On the horn(et)s of a dilemma

Sorry about that ;-)
I put the trap on fairly early in the hope of making the most of a short session. Perhaps that's why I had two or three hornets buzzing around. When I went to switch off at 10.30 ish, I had a nerve-wracking moment as I moved the trap back to my shed. As it turned out there was only one hornet inside - and it only became active after I had processed most of the moths.
A few photos:
small scallop

pebble hook-tip

Cork moth (Nemapogon cloacella)

lesser-spotted pinion


lesser yellow underwing

gold triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)

The villain of the piece!

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!