A Beautiful Range of moths

An impromptu trapping session on the edge of the Pirbright Ranges near West End last night gave me an early oppurtunity to run my new trap. In what was probably the best night of the year in terms of conditions, we ran four traps, and managed a string of quality moths, and great numbers too. The only thing missing was a lifer! Several species were my second ever sightings, but the best was probably several Ling Pugs. This is not a true lifer, as it is considered just a form of Wormwood Pug. We also got several Beautiful Yellow Underwings, which is my first proper sighting (I got a glimpse of one in a trap last year at Dawney's Hill, but it presumably escaped).

26th July, Pirbright Ranges:

Yellow Shell

Dunbar

Small Fan-footed Wave

Pine Hawk

Beautiful Yellow Underwing

Ling Pug

Flame Shoulder

Scarce Footman

True Lover's Knot

Single-dotted Wave

Narrow-winged Pug

Ruby Tiger

Least Yellow Underwing

Slender Brindle

Clouded Border

Rustic

Common Emerald

Common White Wave

Drinker

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Common Carpet

Willow Beauty

Striped Wainscot

Sharp-angled Carpet

Scalloped Hook-tip

Uncertain

Plain Wave

Snout

Antler Moth

Black Arches

Smoky Wainscot

Riband Wave

Kent Black Arches

Light Emerald

Common Footman

Buff Footman

Cloaked Minor

Small Scallop

Large Yellow Underwing

Rosy Footman

Dark Arches

Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Common Rustic

July Highflyer

Peppered Moth

Mottled Beauty

Least Carpet

Lesser Cream Wave

Clay

Dotted Border Wave

Large Emerald

September Thorn

Maiden's Blush

Engrailed

Small Purple-barred

Iron Prominent

Double Kidney

Sharp-angled Peacock

Total: 59

My trap in action

Small Scallop

Small Purple-barred

Sharp-angled Peacock

Sharp-angled Carpet

Ling Pug

Least Carpet

Horse Chestnut (with Clouded Border)

Double Kidney

Beautiful Yellow Underwing (certainly lives up to its name!)

Antler Moth

Hearts, Clubs, Waves, Carpets and other stuff...

I haven't posted on here in quite a while, and there have been too many moths to post full trap reports, so here are a few photos of some of the species that have been turning up in the garden trap through May, and into (a pretty rubbish!) June...

Beautiful Hook-tip (28th May)...

Marbled Brown (28th May)...

Blotched Emerald (29th May)...

Treble Brown Spot (20th May)...

Least Carpet (8th June)...

Dwarf Cream Wave (8th June)...

The Shears (8th June)...

Heart and Club (8th June)...

Flame Shoulder (25th May)

Expect a few more photos in the near future, as I don't think the weather is going to allow for much trapping this weekend, giving me time to make up for a bit of back-blog!

A buzz in the air!

Too much excitement last night! As if having half a dozen hornets flying round the trap when I went to check it wasn't enough, when I got back indoors I discovered that one had come in with me. I don't know what your household is like but my nearest and dearest were not thrilled to have a hornet buzzing round the sitting room. Even worse, by the time I'd got the vacuum cleaner, it had disappeared. There followed a rather tense search until I located it crawling across the carpet in a dark corner. (By the way, I can officially inform you that they don't immediately search out meat. We decided to sacrifice a piece of left-over liver to see if that would draw it from hiding. It didn't. But the dog was pleased!)
When I eventually removed the hornets from the trap and went through the catch, I did have one or two interesting moths - and a nice shield bug.
I think I'm going to have to leave the trap on all night or not at all while it's so warm. The only prob. with that is that I'm not good at surviving the day after waking at dawn. Roll on autumn!
small rivulet

least carpet

forest shieldbug

dingy footman (f. stramineola)

Argyresthia brockeella

Luckily, rain the Least of our worries at Albury

I turned up at Albury Heath yesterday evening expecting to either get turned away, or get rained on and have the session abandonded. But, despite fairly cold conditions, we went ahead, and somehow, we got no rain. Even though I had to leave early, I still saw three or four new species. In all, 42 macros were seen up to 0:00.

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The first lifer was unexpected Least Carpet, not in a traditional location. Then a geometrid turned up, which happened to be a Birch Mocha, surprisingly my first one of those, despite having seen the rarer Mocha before. Finally, right at the end of my visit, a long-overdue tick of Scalloped Hook-tip arrived. Reviewing my photos this morning, I just wonder whether the second Birch Mocha which appeared, is actually a False Mocha (it looks more yellow). I'm currently in correspondence with David Gardner who was there, and he will get back to me with his thoughts (its a shame the photo is poor!).

.

16th July. Albury Heath:

Marbled White Spot

Lobster Moth

Least Carpet*

Birch Mocha*

Common Footman

Scarce Footman

Buff Footman

Rosy Footman

True Lover's Knot

Brimstone

Buff Arches

Pebble Hook-tip

Yellow-tail

Dunbar

Riband Wave

Mottled Beauty

Common Emerald

Knot Grass

V-Pug

Large Twin-spot Carpet

Double Square-spot

Ruby Tiger

Buff Ermine

Small Fan-footed Wave

Large Yellow Underwing

Flame

Beautiful Hook-tip

Common Rustic sp.

July Highflyer

Flame Shoulder

Scalloped Oak

Spruce Carpet

Heart and Dart

Tawny-barred Angle

Peppered Moth

Orange Footman

Green Pug

Scalloped Hook-tip*

Small Rivulet

Engrailed

Uncertain

.

Scalloped Hook-tip

Large Twin-spot Carpet

True Lover's Knot

Small Rivulet

Least Carpet

False Mocha?

Birch Mocha