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

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

National Moth Night - 15th May

Last night was National Moth night when everyone is encouraged to record moths. Butterfly Conservation report that the no. of moths has declined by 40% in the last 30 years, so more study is needed.
In my corner of Surrey it was reasonably mild but with no cloud cover the moths weren't coming to the trap. I ended up with just seven moths.

chocolate-tip


common wave


iron prominent


Hebrew character


muslin moth


2 x unidentified pugs (very worn).