Flaming June - 200 Up

Well I picked a good year and season to refind my enthusiasm for garden moth-trapping. After a couple of very slack years, and a slow start this year, I'm now back in the mindset of trying to get the trap out a few nights in the week as well as weekends, provided it's not really duff weather. I've never really been one for running every night regardless, and with work committments and a need to catch up on some sleep every now and then I try and leave the traps off for a couple of nights.

So far in June, I've run traps on 16 nights. The 22W/20W Synergetic/Actinic combo has been out on every one of those nights, and the 125W MV has gone out on five nights. And it's been a very productive month so far indeed:

• 199 species recorded to the traps, plus one recorded in the garden by day = 200sp.
• four species pending (2x 'Acleris schalleriana', 2x 'Acleris laterana/comariana', Exotelia dodecella and Hoary Footman, of which the last two would be garden firsts
• five species confirmed new to the garden: Luquetia lobella, Cydalima perspectalis, Chimney Sweeper, Grass Rivulet and Red-necked Footman
• max. total 465 of 104sp. on 21/06 (both traps run)
• max. single trap total 316 of 93sp. on 19/06 (22W/20W Synergetic/Actinic trap)
• 2691 individual moths recorded in the traps (excluding the pending species)
• no attempt to separate aggegated Oligia spp. and Daggers
• no attempt to collect Cnephasia spp. or Coleophora spp. for det.

 

Here's a couple that were NFY last night:

Large Twin-spot Carpet

 Marbled Beauty

And here's one that only a few days ago I mentioned rarely turns up in anything but knackered condition - well it's not perfect but a damned sight better than the last!

Dark Umber

Here's a really common one, but in an uncommon guise ...

A dark Dark Arches

And here's one in both a typical white-ish form and a darker greyer form .....

Ypsolopha sequella

Yet more random stuff

The garden traps are still inactive, so yet again I was out dipping into everything else. Yesterday evening I had a very relaxing 2 hour walk along a disused railway line near to Cosby, which runs parallel to the M1. Despite the traffic noise in the background, it was actually quite peaceful with plenty of birdsong and, amazingly, not a single other person during the time I was there. I had fully expected a flurry of post-dinner dog-walkers. Something was singing from every stretch of shrubbery, including four Blackcaps, a Whitethroat, a Chiffchaff and a skulking Garden Warbler. Quite a few Adela reaumurella and Parornix angelicella flying, but with the conditions being a bit overcast there was not a lot of activity. Plenty of stuff picked out though as I ambled along, with Craneflies being most prominent for some reason .....

Tipula vernalis

Tipula varipennis

Tipula fascipennis - female

Tipula fascipennis - male

Tipula fascipennis - pair in cop

There were also a lot of Limonia phragmitidis about but I failed to get a decent shot. Very few beetles and bugs noted, but I did find a distinctive small one - Anaspis maculata - which escaped somewhere in the house before I could get a photo. Otherwise I found these ..

Cantharis nigricans

Agriotes sputator - many thanks to Mark Telfer

You'll have to trust me on this one, but the following shot is 100% genuine - no coaxing of the subjects to sit where I wanted them. I just went over to check a clump of White Campion and found these two sat side by side on the same flower.

Orange-tip (female) and Green-veined White

I've taken to looking at and under fallen rotting logs whilst out on these forays just lately, and this walk proved unexpectedly productive. I found this underneath one - a very common species to light but the first time I have seen the larva ..

Dark Arches

Meanwhile I found this growing on the end of another log ..

Pale Stagshorn??

Here's some random stuff to close the post.

Psila fimetaria

Hairy Snail

Aceria macrorhynchus - gall mite on Sycamore

Hawthorn Shieldbug

?? Which Spider ??

From The Garden Trap 31/05/2011

Clear, dry and cool. And pants. The only note-worthy aspect of last nights garden trapping is that yet again the 20W CFL Actinic held up versus the 120W MV. Very promising indeed.

Total catch 13 of 9sp.
(125W MV 6 of 4, 20W CFL actinic 7 of 7)
1920 Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata) 1
2089 Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) 3
2302 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea) 2
2306 Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) 1 (NFY)
2321 Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha) 1
2330 Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa) 1 (NFY)
2333 Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps) 1
2334 Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens) 2
2340 Middle-barred Minor (Oligia fasciuncula) 1

Dark Arches

Dusky Brocade

Super Sugar 14/08/2009

The arcane art of sugaring!! Last night - zilch. The previous two nights, 1 or 2 moths. Tonight, by far the highest total at sugar in my garden - its the 'brown sugar' of the mothing underworld out there. My current batch is a bit runny for some reason, so it runs down the fence and pools up at the bottom. There are moths at the top on the main strips, down the fence along the runs, and on the ground at the pools. Nothing special about the mix - though I add a few drops of brandy and vanilla essence every now and then. Just gone out for a last recount at 23:45 - 26 moths of 14 species Large Yellow Underwing - 7 Gold Spot - 4 Willow Beauty - 2 Lesser Broad -bordered Yellow Underwing - 2 Old Lady - 2 Angle Shades - 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart - 1 Dark Arches - 1 Straw Dot - 1 Cloaked Minor - 1 Square-spot Rustic - 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing - 1 Mother of Pearl - 1 White-spotted Pug - 1 Old Lady Gold Spot Lesser Yellow Underwing

Cloaked Minor

Angle Shades Dark Arches