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!

Glitch

There is currently a glitch in the Blogger system whearby I can't sign in to edit my posts, or leave comments (although the 'dashboard' works fine, so I can still put in new posts without problem).

Thanks, Paul.

Ben,

What makes you say that? I always thought that the lack of a curved crossbar (I know there is a faint one, but it was almost non-existant it real life), and very clear oval and kidney markings were better for Rustic.

Always willing to learn!

Sean

Pugtastic

Last night was the first warm cloudy one for a couple of weeks, so it worth running the trap. Numbers were a little dissapointing, but included an array of Pugs, all but one of which I managed to identify! One of the Green Pugs was very fresh, but by the time I had had it potted for a little while, it started to loose its green! The same can be said for the July Highflyer too. I also found a very pretty micro flying around in the day, that I would appreciate an ID for.

June 14th:

15 Heart and Dart

4 Rustic

3 Green Pug NFY

2 Dark Arches

2 Willow Beauty

2 Common Pug

1 Foxglove Pug NFY

1 Grey Pug

1 Fan-foot NFY

1 Small Fan-foot NFY

1 July Highflyer NFY

1 Marbled White-spot

1 Small Dusty Wave NFY

1 Brimstone

1 Uncertain NFY

Sorry for some of these poor shots, but I wasn't having much luck persuading them to sit where I wanted!

Unidentified micro

Green Pug

Small Dusty Wave

July Highflyer

Small Fan-foot

Fan-foot

Rustic

little and large (clouded brindles)

I found a clouded brindle in my shed a couple of nights ago. I thought that it might be interesting to post it above a small clouded brindle from last year.
small clouded brindle

clouded brindle

Shears!

Last night was lovely and cloudy, and it was a pleasant surprise not to see any of the wet stuff. Variety was oddly down on yesterday, but numbers were up, as Heart and Darts soared to new heights! Best were a Shears, and a Pine Hawk, although its a shame the latter was such a sorry looking specimen!

4th June:

64 Heart and Dart

22 Dark Arches

7 Minor sp.

1 Flame

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

1 Heart and Club

1 Buff-tip

1 Treble Brown Spot

1 Marbled White Spot NFY

1 Shears NFY

1 Peppered Moth NFY

1 Red-green Carpet NFY

1 Pine Hawk NFY

Red-green Carpet

Marbled White Spot

Pine Hawk

Shears

Aye, Aye, Admiral!

I went looking for silver-washed fritillaries yesterday. I probably left it too late in the day but I did find a white admiral.

Darts, Clubs and Silver-lines

Another warm night, so I trapped in the garden. I got the best variety of the year so far, but the high numbers of individuals were mostly down to Heart and Dart! Only the second garden record of Green Silver-lines was probably the best, although its a shame it was so worn.

3rd June:

48 Heart and Dart

15 Dark Arches

6 Minor sp.

4 Treble Lines

4 Flame

2 Willow Beauty NFY

2 Heart and Club NFY

2 Grey Pug

1 Dusky Brocade NFY

1 Brimstone NFY

1 Garden Carpet NFY

1 Middle-barred Minor NFY

1 Green Silver-lines NFY

1 Buff-tip

1 Brown Silver-lines

1 Large Yellow Underwing NFY

1 Vine's Rustic

1 Light Emerald NFY

Heart and Club

Garden Carpet

Dusky Brocade

Middle-barred Minor

Green Silver-lines

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!

Like a Phoenix from the fire

It seems the warm weather is finally here, and with a little cloud cover about, I set the trap last night. Numbers were surprisingly down on the last couple of nights, but the quality was pretty good. Best was my first confirmed Phoenix for the garden, although it got away before I got a photo! A few others new for the year in addition, included a fantastic Buff-tip.



1st June:
17 Heart and Dart
4 Dark Arches
3 Minor sp.
2 Treble Brown Spot NFY
1 Buff-tip NFY
1 Treble Lines
1 Mottled Pug NFY
1 Small Seraphim NFY
1 Bird's Wing
1 Broken-barred Carpet NFY
1 Phoenix NFY
1 Ingrailed Clay
1 Vine's Rustic
1 Grey Pug NFY

Treble Brown Spot

Small Seraphim

probable Grey Pug

Bird's Wing

Broken-barred Carpet

Buff-tip

witch hunt

Mother Shipton was a witch, apparently, and she has a moth named after her. I've seen the species often enough in meadows and stream-side vegetation but they seem to like perching deep in the vegetation. I didn't manage to get a great shot but at least it's recognisable. I also got on friendly terms with a large skipper in the same meadow... and a blood-vein.

Mother Shipton

large skipper
blood-vein