Surrey Moths & Butterflies: common emerald

Sunday, 4 July 2010

A-knot of cloud brings a very Varied catch

Two nights ago was staggering, with lots of cloud and only a little rain.

I got exactly the same number of species as my best night ever (6th June - 42), but with three less individuals, but I am definitely not complaining! I managed three brand new species to me which were Varied Coronet, Miller, and Minor Shoulder-knot, as well as a couple more new for the year. It was also surprising to smash my previous Hawk-moth total, with four Elephants!

2nd July:

7 Heart and Dart

7 Riband Wave

6 Flame

5 Dark Arches

4 Willow Beauty

4 Mottled Beauty

4 Elephant Hawk-moth

4 Light Emerald

3 Marbled White Spot

3 Heart and Club

3 Dot Moth

3 Coronet

2 Double Square-spot

2 Light Arches NFY

2 Fan-foot

2 Clouded Border

2 Pale Mottled Willow

1 Miller NFG

1 Dagger sp. NFY

1 Peppered Moth

1 Sycamore

1 Minor Shoulder-knot NFG

1 Barred Red

1 Uncertain

1 Spruce Carpet

1 Grey Pine Carpet

1 Clay

1 Varied Coronet NFG

1 Common White Wave

1 Minor sp.

1 Poplar Grey

1 Green Pug

1 Common Emerald NFY

1 Snout

1 Buff Arches

1 Dunbar

1 Garden Carpet

1 Foxglove Pug

1 Purple Clay

1 Common Lutestring

1 Bird's Wing

Species recorded in the garden this year: 142

The other day I was in a woodland near me when I found this curious Light Emerald. It looks like it has just emerged and is pumping up its wings, but the thing is, that I found it on an overhanging branch quite high up, and I thought they pupated underground. I am really not sure what has happened here:

Dagger sp.

A fresh Willow Beauty

Light Arches

Common Emerald

Miller

Minor Shoulder-knot

Varied Coronet

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Summer is Here

It was mad around the trap this morning. I got out into the garden shortly after 4 a.m. It was still dark enough for a few moths to be flying around, thanks to the cloud cover. But it was 14deg C and many of the moths in the trap were very active. I did my best to check them out but inevitably lots flew away as soon as I lifted the lamp away from the top of the trap. I covered the trap with a towel and headed for our garden shed. At least I have a chance of recatching some of the ones that fly off in there. I didn't try to count the moths as I wanted to concentrate on IDing as many species as possible before I lost them. I reckon there could have been 500 in all but I must have lost about 100. Even so I had 20 new macro species for the year and umpteen micros - many of which I'll have to ask the ever-patient county recorder to look at. But there were certainly quite a few new for the year among them.

I didn't photograph every species - the day is not long enough but here are some (not all are new for the year - and I don't have common footman or bright-line brown-eye here):
varied coronet