North Devon Moths

Whilst down in Devon last week I ran the 22W/20W Synergetic/Actinic trap on a few nights. I've moth-trapped at the inlaws house very sporadically over the last decade or so, but the last time was back in July 2011. I have trapped there in spring before so whilst I had some good catches last week, most species were either expected or at least previously recorded. I did manage to add three new species to the list though (in bold text). I tweeted some of the scores but my mental maths is crap - the real scores are here with a total of 245 of 27sp. over four nights.

06/04/2015
45 of 13sp.
0464  Diamond-back Moth (Plutella xylostella)  1
0663  Diurnea fagella  1
1663  March Moth (Alsophila aescularia)  4
1881  Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata)  1
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  1
1927  Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)  3
1930  Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)  1
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  11
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  5
2189  Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda)  1
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  13
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  2
2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  1

Brindled Beauty

07/04/2015
75 of 17sp.
0663  Diurnea fagella  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  1
1663  March Moth (Alsophila aescularia)  2
1746  Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata)  4
1775  Mottled Grey (Colostygia multistrigaria)  1
1852  Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata)  2
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  2
1927  Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)  3
1930  Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)  2
1934  Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)  4
2139  Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)  1
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  18
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  2
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  22
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  8
2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  1
2259  Dark Chestnut (Conistra ligula)  1

Mottled Grey

Red Chestnut

08/04/2015
62 of 18sp.
0288  Caloptilia stigmatella  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  1
1663  March Moth (Alsophila aescularia)  1
1746  Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata)  1
1750  Water Carpet (Lampropteryx suffumata)  1
1852  Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata)  1
1881  Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata)  1
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  1
1930  Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)  1
1934  Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)  2
2139  Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)  1
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  13
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  10
2189  Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda)  1
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  14
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  9
2258  Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)  2
2425  Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli)  1

Early Tooth-striped

Water Carpet

Nut-tree Tussock

09/04/2015
63 of 18sp.
0663  Diurnea fagella  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  1
1663  March Moth (Alsophila aescularia)  1
1746  Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata)  2
1747  Streamer (Anticlea derivata)  1
1750  Water Carpet (Lampropteryx suffumata)  2
1852  Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata)  1
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  5
1927  Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)  1
1947  Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata)  1
2102  Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)  1
2139  Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)  1
2182  Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda)  4
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  11
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  8
2189  Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda)  1
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  20
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  1

Streamer

Twin-spotted Quaker f. immaculata

Despite the very ad-hoc nature of my trapping down there, I've built up quite a decent list versus the effort with some excellent species.The list total is now 274 species (83 micros, 191 macros), with macro highlights (VC55 context) such as Chevron, Sharp-angled Carpet, Ash Pug, Barred Umber, Brussels Lace, Great Prominent, Four-spotted Footman, Triple-spotted Clay, Marbled Green, Small Mottled Willow and Dark Spectacle. Not sure if I'll be able to add to the list now though, as the house is on the market and my inlaws are likely to have moved before the summer when I'm next likely to go down. Still - may be the start of a new list.

01/04/2011 Mothing

Following on from the post this morning, here are the summaries and photos from mothing on Friday night.

First up, the result from 3 x 125W MV traps operated at Gisborne's Gorse within Charnwood Lodge from dusk till dawn. The mild conditions with partial cloud cover and no rain were good, with most of the wood sheltered from the strong breeze that was in force in open areas. It was just about constant at 11°C from lighting up until first light this morning. The total catch was 1075 of 23sp. Not bad eh? The catch included 8 yearticks as indicated in the list.

0006 Eriocrania subpurpurella 4 (NFY)
0461 Ypsolopha ustella 1 (NFY)
0663 Diurnea fagella 31
1044x Acleris ferrugana/notana 4
1054 Acleris cristana 2
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1775 Mottled Grey (Colostygia multistrigaria) 11 (NFY)
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 406 (NFY)
1930 Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) 8
1934 Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) 1
1947 Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata) 5
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 5
2179 Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea) 2 (NFY)
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 171
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 226
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 19
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 60
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 47
2236 Pale Pinion (Lithophane hepatica) 1 (NFY)
2237 Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus lactipennis) 1 (NFY)
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 5
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 61
2423 Oak Nycteoline (Nycteola revayana) 3 (NFY)



Most numerous moth of the night - Brindled Pug


Mottled Grey - a species I've only ever seen at Charnwood Lodge


Pine Beauty - Ben's favourite .....


Pale Pinion - nowhere near as rare as it used to be


Grey Shoulder-knot - ditto the above


Red Chestnut - not sure why but this is a favourite of mine


Oak Nycteoline - another favourite


Once I got around to emptying the garden traps it highlighted how different the results can be when trapping in the garden versus trapping in prime habitat in the same general conditions. The garden is not sheltered from the wind, but was maybe a degree warmer. The total catch was pants - just 22 of 11sp. This did however include a couple of garden yearticks, including an Acleris hastiana. It was only last week that I mentioned to Adrian that I hadn't seen one in the garden for a few years (last one was 2006).

0663 Diurnea fagella 2 (NFY)
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1053 Acleris hastiana 1 (NFY)
1054 Acleris cristana 1
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 2
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 1
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 9
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1


Acleris hastiana

New Micro and Overly-optimistic Mothing

Despite the highly unpromising conditions, me and Adrian Russell set out to light up a couple of areas of woodland and hope for the best. Whilst it was distinctly cool and grey, it had remained dry all day.

We dropped off 3 x 125W MV traps at Wardley Wood just before dusk, and then headed over to Prior's Coppice to run a sheet and trap for an hour and a half. Nothing too exciting recorded at the latter site though Diurnea fagella and Red Chestnut were both new for the year. We then headed back to Wardley Wood to empty the traps - again low numbers but two White-marked were a bonus and also new for the year.

Prior's Coppice
1 x 125W MV over sheet, 1 x 125W MV trap
19:00 - 20:30
Total 36 of 9 sp.
0663 Diurnea fagella 4 (NFY)
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 1 (NFY)
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 7
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 7
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 6
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 3
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 6
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 1

Diurnea fagella

Wardley Wood
3 x 125W MV traps
18:30 - 21:00
Total 42 of 10sp.
1930 Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) 1
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 1
2140 White-marked (Cerastis leucographa) 2 (NFY)
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 4
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 17
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 1
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 5
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 7
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 1
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 3

White-marked

Red Chestnut

Garden mothing was predictably poor, nothing new for the year and only just a double-figure count of individuals ..

11 of 7sp.
(125W MV 7 of 5sp., 80W/100W actinic/tungsten 4 of 4sp.)
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 1
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 3
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

Shoulder Stripe

Early Grey

Later this afternoon, whilst milling about in the garden, I noticed a small micro on the inside window of the shed. It was soon potted and, glad to say, I soon identified it as being new for the garden and indeed new for me full stop. Despite being worn, the general jizz and a wing-span of c18mm made ID fairly straightfoward ..

Mompha sturnipennella

More migrants and the moth photos

This morning as I left the house, just after posting the trapping summaries, the first garden Chiffchaff of the year was in song. Not actually in the garden, but viewable on the scrubby embankment that runs adjacent to us. Much later on, on the way home from work, I dropped past Grove Park again. The pair of LRPs were still milling about, but I was really pleased to find a superb bright male Wheatear knocking about close to the pathway with a few Meadow Pipits and Linnets. Typically the camera was at home - I'm going back again tomorrow with the DSLR, when no doubt nothing will be in range.

As promised, here's a selection of photos from last nights efforts:

All of the Brindled Pugs were superbly fresh, like these two

Red-green Carpet - nice

Mottled Grey - subtle

Pine Beauty - superb

Oak Nycteoline - you'd look knackered if you lived in the woods overwinter

Acleris cristana - ditto the Nycteoline

When out and about, it's always good to double-check you have everything you need in the car before setting off ...

Gennies - check
Cable reels - check
Traps - check
Tripod light - check
Catch box - check
Net & pots - check
Torches - check
Coffee - check
Folding seat ... bollocks




And from the garden:

Garden Tick

and a slightly smarter variant of Shoulder Stripe

I've not bothered with the garden traps tonight - crystal clear skies and plummeting temps after a good previous night generally means poor results.

Moth Trapping 28/03/2010

Last night was much better in the garden, with two garden firsts for the year. The improvement was no doubt due to the mild and fairly still conditions with cloud cover until the early hours when the forecast rain eventually arrived. The total catch was 45 of 7sp. (125W MV 26 of 6sp., 80W actinic 19 of 7sp.).

Diurnea fagella 1 [first for year]
Agonopterix heracliana 2
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 17
Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 13
Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 8
Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 2 [first for year]

Whilst an improvement, there was no comparison to the results from taking traps into decent woodland. The total list (629 of 24sp.) from Pickworth Great Wood last night was:

Ypsolopha ustella 1
Diurnea fagella 2
Agonopterix ocellana 1
Tortricodes alternella 2
Acleris ferrugana/notana 3
Yellow Horned (Achlya flavicornis galbanus) 8
March Moth (Alsophila aescularia) 14
Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 37
Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
Small Brindled Beauty (Apocheima hispidaria) 2
Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) 12
Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) 2
Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata) 61
Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 4
White-marked (Cerastis leucographa) 4
Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 96
Lead-coloured Drab (Orthosia populeti) 1
Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 147
Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 101
Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 39
Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 67
Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 11
Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 7
Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 6

Agonopterix ocellana

Engrailed

Lead-coloured Drab - sadly a slightly worn individual

Twin-spotted Quaker

Small Quaker

Red Chestnut

Sadly, I ran out of time/patience to get a White-marked shot - I'll try again in the morning.

Pickworth Great Wood, 06/04/2009

After quite a few indifferent or cool nights, Monday 6th looked to be the best opportunity for a week or so to finally get out and run the traps again. I ventured out to Pickworth Great Wood, meeting up with Adrian Russell, and set about deploying traps around the gated entrance and back to the Lincs. border.

Conditions seemed pretty good, with temps. no lower than 10degC, reasonable cloud cover and only the lightest breeze. Despite this, none of the traps were especially busy. Absolute highlight was a single Ypsolopha mucronella, a first for me and only the second modern record for VC55 following one at Bloody Oaks Quarry in April 1986. Other than this, White-marked was good to see but expected at PGW. Total catch was 424 of 32sp. from 6 x 125W MV traps, a 40W actinic, and a combined actinic/tungsten trap.

Eriocrania subpurpurella 4
Ypsolopha mucronella 1
Schreckensteinia festaliella 1
Diurnea fagella 89
Semioscopis steinkellneriana 13
Acleris ferrugana/notana 1
Acleris cristana 2
Emmelina monodactyla 1
Scalloped Hook-tip 1
Yellow Horned 2
Shoulder Stripe 36
Streamer 6
Water Carpet 2
Red-green Carpet 1
Brindled Pug 23
The V-Pug 2
Early Thorn 38
Purple Thorn 7
Oak Beauty 2
Engrailed 20
Red Chestnut 15
White-marked 4
Small Quaker 12
Common Quaker 24
Clouded Drab 11
Twin-spotted Quaker 10
Hebrew Character 40
Grey Shoulder-knot 1
Early Grey 11
Satellite 16
Chestnut 26
The Herald 11


Ypsolopha mucronella


Schreckensteinia festaliella - try saying that after a few beers


White-marked


Red Chestnut


Streamer


Scalloped Hook-tip - the greyer spring brood