Emp Tempted

It must be getting on for a decade that I have tried and failed to lure Emperor Moth anywhere in VC55 using the EMP lure. And sporadically prior to the lure being available, I had a couple of attempts at rearing through larvae and trying to assemble males - again with no success. I'd seen one female to light years ago, and have successfully lured males in Devon and Somerset. My current lure is now 6yrs old, I got it to replace the first thinking it must be duff. Aside from trying out and about, I've left the lure in the garden many times but it's nigh on impossible to trap them coming to the lure so unless you watch it constantly you could miss something. But there again I had no reason to believe it was around here.

Yesterday afternoon though in glorious sunshine but with a stiff breeze, and it being quite a bit later than I had planned thanks to a chemo pump issue, I headed out to try a few sites in the northern Soar Valley. All sites I'd tried before, and all sites with larval records over the last couple of decades. At last success! Wanlip Meadows was the first site I tried, and I logged x4 to the lure within c10mins before pulling it. I then headed to Cossington Meadows a bit further north, x1 in a couple of mins, and then down to Watermead CP South with another x1 in a couple of mins.

All three sites are nothing like heath/moorland. They share a few characteristics: damp/wet grasslands, copious sallows, willows, bramble, hawthorn and blackthorn and likely plenty of Meadowsweet.

Wanlip Meadows

Cossington Meadows

Watermead CP South

I did manage to grab a little bit of phone video at each site, but they are pretty hopeless. Here's one from Watermead CP South seeing as I didn't grab a photo from that site:

I netted one from Wanlip Meadows for an initial in the pot shot, but any thoughts of getting a proper phot in the field were short lived and I brought it home to snap ....

Emperor Moth, Wanlip Meadows 03/04/2025

This moth is still in the fridge and marked up ready to return this evening.

Today I tried again over at Huncote Embankment but with no luck. So whilst back home waiting for the District Nurse, I stuck the lure out in the garden again - nothing seen in half an hour and then sat down to write/post this. I hear a shout from Nichola - 'what's this'....

'This' turns out to be an Emperor Moth that the cat has just presented to the back door ....  still twitching and alive but not very lively. The bleeding cat is also twitching.

What a way to break a decade long duck!

Here's a D&B interlude by some outfit called Emperor ....

The garden trap last night produced a lovely looking Powdered Quaker amongst a handful of NFY species, but biggest surprise was yet another Blossom Underwing!

Shoulder Stripe

Spruce Carpet

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Blossom Underwing

Powdered Quaker

Powdered / Cronker

The moth trap is still a bit weak; warm sunny days followed by clear cool nights are never a good combination, and even less so in what is still early spring. There were a couple of NFY last night though, and the best of these was this one ....

Powdered Quaker

Best as in occurrence, not in how it looks as to be fair it's not the smartest individual and it didn't behave for the camera either! This is far less than annual in my garden, and this is actually the first here since 2013.

The other NFY was more expected ...

Early Thorn

I don't especially like using flash for moths but it always seems to work with this species.

I've had a right lazy day, mainly sleeping in the sunshine. I did have some luck on the bird list though; one I've been expecting to drift into view at some point, but when three come directly over together cronking away and interracting then adding Raven is easier than squinting at a distant blob in the bins. As it happened, after the three came over I saw at least one other soaring around above the embankment - quite probably somewhere over Whetstone Golf Course, and quite probably all are birds from Croft Quarry. I managed to get a very poor shot of the kind of blob I might have expected to be my best view from here.

Use your imagination!

I also spent some time frustratingly trying to get a shot of one of the two Blackcaps that were singing from the embankment today, with at least one of these coming into the garden on the ivy. This was the best I got so far .....

Otherwise I've not bothered looking too much today, though this weevil on the sun lounger was a nice distraction ..

Sitona lineatus

New Macros

So, I'm down here in North Devon staying with the in laws. We're down here for a couple of days without the kids, so that means there was room for a moth trap in the car. Can't remember when I last trapped here and can't check until I'm home, but it would of been a while ago. I ran the 22W synergetic last night, and the prospects were pretty good with mild and overcast conditions. I ended up with 113 of 34sp., markedly better than recent catches at home. Oddly though there was only one micro in this catch, a single Bee Moth.

Absolute stand out highlight was a macro tick, albeit not the most showy moth you could imagine.

Horse Chestnut

Nut-tree Tussock was the other highlight, and otherwise it was good to see a number of species for the first time this year, such as: Pale Tussock, Pebble Prominent, Flame Carpet, Green Carpet, Silver-ground Carpet, Small Phoenix, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Foxglove Pug, Common Pug, Spruce Carpet, Brimstone Moth, Powdered Quaker and Lychnis.

Nut-tree Tussock

Small Phoenix

Brindled Beauty

Powdered Quaker

Today we had a quick walk around Ilfracombe like proper grockles. I've got some hemiptera and a weevil potted to check out another day, but otherwise it was just refreshing to get some sea air and a pastie. The controversial Verity still stands over the harbour questioning truth and justice, but looks like she needs a decent jet wash to clear the gull shit from her head.

Looking back to Ilfracombe town from the harbour

Verity

This Herring Gull had a knackered leg, allowing a close approach, this is an uncropped phone shot.

Later in the afternoon I headed to the edge of Exmoor, actually just over the border into Somerset near the Pinkery outdoor pursuits center. I was intent on proving once and for all that the EMP lure does actually work. I found a suitable looking place with some heather, though otherwise it looked a bit dry and bleak. Not ideal conditions with a bit of a breeze and no sunshine, though it was still warm.

Well, the lure went out and within five minutes I had the first male in. Then over the next five minutes or so I had at least 8 males before I pulled the lure in. I'm sure if I'd actually walked further into the moor I would have recorded lots more.

I netted one for a proper shot. I say proper, I mean a quick snap with my phone.

This is the first time I have recorded Emperor Moth myself, so effectively another macro tick as I have only seen a female from a group trapping session and adults from captive rearing.

The moth trap is out again tonight, though we are expecting rain so the trap is slightly protected under a wood shed canopy. Let's see what comes in.

Garden trapping 23/04 & 24/04

23/04/2013 : 37 of 13sp.
(125W MV 22 of 10sp., 80W/11W Actinic/CFL combo 15 of 9sp.)
0288  Caloptilia stigmatella  1 (NFY)
0688  Agonopterix heracliana  1
0697  Agonopterix arenella  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  10
1746  Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata)  1
1862  Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)  2
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  2
1927  Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)  1 (NFY)
2186  Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis)  1 (NFY)
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  1
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  6
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  5
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  5

24/04/2013 Dayflying
0483  Epermenia chaerophyllella  1 (NFY)

24/04/2013 : 35 of 11sp.
(125W MV 17 of 8sp., 80W/11W Actinic/CFL combo 18 of 9sp.)
0663  Diurnea fagella  1
0667  Semioscopis steinkellneriana  1
1054  Acleris cristana  1
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  12
1746  Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata)  2
1862  Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)  7
1917  Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)  2
2187  Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)  1
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  4
2190  Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)  2
2243  Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)  2

25/04/2013 Dayflying
1497  Amblyptilia acanthadactyla  1 (NFY)

Brindled Beauty

Powdered Quaker

Very knackered with some sort of antennal deformity - bit odd for something that should be fresh out

Yet another Acleris cristana - look at the scale tufts on that

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla

Mothing roundup

Before I get into the garden round-up, here's a just about passable shot of the Heliozela sericiella I netted yesterday afternoon. This is just about the limit of my macro photography, it is after all a mere 2.8mm from palps to apex ...

Whilst we've enjoyed some fantastic sunny weather of late (though today it turned a little) the garden mothing has been absolute pants. The temperature drop from the day to night is too big a swing, and the nights have been chilly with no cloud cover. Roll on the dull cloudy days with average temps as far as mothing is concerned!

07/04/2011 : 26 of 7sp.
(125W MV 13 of 5; 80W/100W actinic/tungsten 13 of 5)
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 5
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 15
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

08/04/2011 : 15 of 10sp.
(125W MV 5 of 3; 160W blended 10 of 8)
0667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana 2
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
0892 Mompha subbistrigella 1 (NFY)
1288 Twenty-plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla) 1
1497 Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 1
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 5
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

09/04/2011 : 18 of 8sp.
(125W MV 11 of 6; 160W blended 7 of 5)
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 2 (NFY)
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 3
1936 Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) 1 (NFY)
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 2 (NFY
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 6
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

10/04/2011 : 11 of 8sp.
(125W MV 5 of 5; 160W blended 6 of 5)
0688 Agonopterix heracliana 1
1524 Emmelina monodactyla 2
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
1936 Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 1
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 2

The only other species added to the overall yearlist is an Agonopterix alstromeriana that was resting on a window at work today.

28/04/2010 Mothing Part 1 of 3 - Ketton Quarry

The forecast for last night was perfect - the warm muggy conditions that had developed through the day would continue into the night with good temps and cloud cover ahead of the rain moving in today. Knowing that the weather over the weekend was likely to be shite, I decided to try and make the most of a mid-week session. I'd touted the idea of going down to Hazelborough Wood in Northants but there were no takers, so I headed over to Ketton Quarry. No particular species in mind, just a change of mothing scenery - I knew a woodland site would be more productive at this time of year, but KQ has the highest site total in VC55 and could turn something up at any time of year.

As I arrived at c20:00 it was still 18°C and all seemed good. I set up 3 x 125W MV traps and a 125W MV light over a sheet, got the gennies running at 20:50 and waited for the influx of moths to start. And waited. And waited.

I just don't get it - as perfect conditions as you could wish for, and yet by 22:00 all I had was 10 moths of 9 species at the sheet. Luckily things picked up on the species diversity, but it was still pretty slow going at the sheet and certainly not the big numbers I had hoped for. I couldn't stay too late though, and I'm sure that if I'd carried on beyond 23:40 it would have been a different story.

In the end the total catch was 171 of 37sp. including plenty of firsts for the year. However by far the highlight was a single Frosted Green that just arrived at the last trap when I started to packup. This species is by no means common in VC55 - it's only been recorded from a few sites and generally in low numbers. Given that this KQ already had a macro list of 354 species, adding another was notable.

Frosted Green

The only other unexpected species was a single Common Heath in one of the traps - not because the species is unexpected at Ketton Quarry, but because it is a day-flying species. It must have been roosting very close to the trap.

The total list was:

0006 Eriocrania subpurpurella 4
0130 Incurvaria masculella 2 [yeartick]
0667 Semioscopis steinkellneriana 1
0672 Parsnip Moth (Depressaria heraclei) 1
0695 Agonopterix alstromeriana 1
0966 Cochylis atricapitana 3 [yeartick]
0986 Syndemis musculana 1 [yeartick]
1054 Acleris cristana 1
1362 Pyrausta purpuralis 1 [yeartick]
1651 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) 2 [yeartick]
1660 Frosted Green (Polyploca ridens) 1 [yeartick]
1724 Red Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe spadicearia) 4 [yeartick]
1728 Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) 1
1738 Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) 1 [yeartick]
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 4
1750 Water Carpet (Lampropteryx suffumata) 1
1760 Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) 2
1790 Tissue (Triphosa dubitata) 1 [yeartick]
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 4
1853 Oak-tree Pug (Eupithecia dodoneata) 10
1883 Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata) 5 [yeartick]
1919 Purple Thorn (Selenia tetralunaria) 1
1936 Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) 6 [yeartick]
1947 Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata) 1
1952 Common Heath (Ematurga atomaria) 1
2015 Lunar Marbled Brown (Drymonia ruficornis) 2
2078 Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis) 3 [yeartick]
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) 2 [yeartick]
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) 1 [yeartick]
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 5
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 23
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 39
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 4
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 26
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 3
2258 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) 2

Yellow-barred Brindle

Pyrausta purpuralis

Powdered Quaker

Least Black Arches

It was still up at 15°C when I left. The drive home produced three Foxes, a superb Barn Owl and a probable Tawny Owl dashing across the road, but no Badgers. Always amazes me how so many Badgers get mowed over on the A47 yet I've never seen one alive along there.

From the garden trap - 23/04/2008

Total catch 20 of 9sp.
(125W MV 9 of 5sp., 80W Actinic 11 of 7sp.)

Agonopterix heracliana 1
Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) 1
Emmelina monodactyla 4
Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 3
Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 2
Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 5
Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 2
Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix) 1


Powdered Quaker - of the regular Orthosias, this is my favourite


Herald - smart!