Pale Pinion, Martinshaw, Butterbur

First up, the garden traps last night (Friday 23rd) were shite for numbers but I was very pleased to find another Pale Pinion nestling in one of the egg trays making the effort worthwhile. Total catch was just 9 of 4sp. (125W MV 5 of 3, 80W actinic 4 of 2).

1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 5
2236 Pale Pinion (Lithophane hepatica) 1

Pale Pinion

The brief session at Martinshaw Wood with Adrian Russell ended up with a reasonable list, considering the still cool conditions and a relatively early finish. We ran 1 x 125W light over a sheet and 4 x 125W MV traps up to c22:30. The total catch was 257 of 17sp., including 4 yearticks for me.

Martinshaw Wood is mainly coniferous plantation interspersed with some remnant broadleaved wood including Oak, Aspen, Birch and Sallow. Also a reasonable mix in the understory. One of the main benefits of this site is that the rides afford excellent vehicular access - always a major bonus for moth trapping.

Not quite so usual is the fact that the wood is bisected by a rather larger track, as seen in this map which also shows the central point where we ran the sheet (2), the access track entrance (1), plus the four trap locations.

0006 Eriocrania subpurpurella 99 [yeartick]
0461 Ypsolopha ustella 2
0663 Diurnea fagella 14
1750 Water Carpet (Lampropteryx suffumata) 3 [yeartick]
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 29
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 2
1947 Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata) 1
2015 Lunar Marbled Brown (Drymonia ruficornis) 20 [yeartick]
2179 Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea) 2
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 7
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 21
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 3
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 5
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 32
2237 Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus lactipennis) 1 [yeartick]
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 10
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 6

I've checked back and it was 2002 when I last moth-trapped at Martinshaw Wood - must try and get in more through this year. Here's a few of the highlights:

Lunar Marbled Brown - darker form

Lunar Marbled Brown - regular form

Eriocrania subpurpurella

Water Carpet

Grey Shoulder-knot - a worn three-legged individual

Pine Beauty - can't see enough of these smart moths

Finally, I mentioned Butterbur at Misterton Marsh the other day - here's a couple of quick snaps showing how prolific it is at this site.

As far as I know, there are not too many sites in VC55 with Butterbur - I'm going to make a concerted effort to check this one for The Butterbur (moth) later in the spring by cutting a few stems to check for larvae.