Some recent random stuff

No time for any write-ups I'm afraid - so please just fill yer boots with a few photos instead ....

Cassida vibex

Hornet Moth

Scarce Footman

Chrysotoxum cautum

Sallow Kitten

Cryptocephalus moraei

Rhagio scolopaceus

Apotomis turbidana

Luperus longicornis

Thursday 21st Round Three - Cossington Meadows Mothing

Yet more photos and news from yesterday .....

I headed over to Cossington Meadows and met up with Adrian in good time to drive in and down the track creating a massive dust cloud - it was like rallying through Dakar. It was still quite light as we started to deploy a few traps, and still very warm though we were under no illusions that the temps would cool off fairly quickly. In the event it had dropped to a mere 16°C at 20:30, and to 11°C by 23:00 when we left. A 125W MV light over a sheet and 3 x 125W MV traps should have yielded far more individuals, but the species tally wasn't bad - 64 of 26sp. Most importantly, as this site has hardly been trapped before we added 12 species dots to the map. Of less importance, but just a satisfying, I picked up a few yearticks.

Before I summarise the list and show a few shots, we had an unusual find when Adrian shone a torch up into a bat box that we fully expected to be empty. It was full of earwigs and woodlice and looked like no bat had ever been in it, but we could also see what appeared to be a couple of caterpillars. With deft use of one net below and the handle of another net to give one a poke, we soon had a noctuid caterpillar to look at. The bat box was fixed to an Ash tree, and I immediately recognised the caterpillar as I've seen this one before ...

Centre-barred Sallow

Also before I launch into the catch, I netted and potted up a micro that warranted a better look. It appears to be one of the smaller Depressaria spp., and possibly a new one for VC55 but we'll have to wait for a det to confirm. Post-script - looking increasingly likely that this is Depressaria ultimella as I suggested locally this morning. Will be a VC55 first when confirmed.

Depressaria ultimella

CONFIRMED - gen. det. by Jon Clifton Jan 2012

0006 Eriocrania subpurpurella 1
0609 Elachista maculicerusella 3 (NFY)
1651 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) 2
1722 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) 1 (NFY)
1725 Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe ferrugata) 6 (NFY)
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 2
1853 Oak-tree Pug (Eupithecia dodoneata) 5
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 4
1883 Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata) 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 1
1919 Purple Thorn (Selenia tetralunaria) 1 (NFY)
1979 Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae) 1 (NFY)
1997 Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) 3 (NFY)
2003 Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac) 1
2006 Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) 1 (NFY)
2011 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) 3 (NFY)
2028 Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) 1 (NFY)
2064 Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) 2 (NFY)
2078 Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis) 2
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) 1 (NFY)
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 5
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 11
2256 Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) 1
2289 Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) 2 (NFY)

Elachista maculicerusella

Flame Carpet - sadly a dull/dark one

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet - we had a few of these that had us going as the central band looked odd and there were no twin-spots.

Lime Hawk-moth

Sallow Kitten

Lesser Swallow Prominent

Ruby Tiger

Knot Grass

Cossington Meadows, 07/08/2010

Here's another belated list - from an excellent last-minute decision visit to the Leics. & Rutland Wildlife Trust reserve Cossington Meadows with Adrian Russell.

We left in until late in the day to decide where to go, and as the conditions seemed less than ideal we opted for a closer to home option than heading all the way over to the east of Rutland. With the late summer / early autumn wainscots on the wing we decided to see which we could add to the Cossington list - with less than a handful of previous mothing sessions at this site we were bound to add dots to the map. As it happens, we inadvertently set up literally around the crosslines between four tetrads so we added rather more dots than we'd expected!

Traps/lights at the red dots - ish.

We ended up having a pretty good night in the end, running the lights until c01:00 with temperatures staying up at c15°C. We ran 1 x 125W MV light over a sheet, 4 x 125W MV traps and 1 x 80W/100W actinic/tungsten combo trap. The total catch was a very respectable 711 of 90sp. I'll post the full list, split into the usual yeaticks, high counts, other highlights and then the rest:

First for year:
0481 Epermenia falciformis 2
0969 Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis corylana) 2
1104 Endothenia quadrimaculana 2
1914 Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria) 1
2133 Six-striped Rustic (Xestia sexstrigata) 4
2176 Antler Moth (Cerapteryx graminis) 1
2303 Straw Underwing (Thalpophila matura) 1
2353 Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea) 2
2368 Crescent (Celaena leucostigma) 3
2369 Bulrush Wainscot (Nonagria typhae) 2
2370 Twin-spotted Wainscot (Archanara geminipuncta) 5

Epermenia falciformis

Endothenia quadrimaculana

Bulrush Wainscot

Twin-spotted Wainscot

Crescent

Antler Moth

Six-striped Rustic

Highest counts:
2343x Common Rustic agg. (Mesapamea secalis agg.) 129
1304 Agriphila straminella 76
1303 Agriphila selasella 74
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) 48
2111 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua janthe) 23
1405 Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis) 20

Agriphila selasella

Other highlights:
0609 Elachista maculicerusella 14
0898 Limnaecia phragmitella 6
1290 Chilo phragmitella 2
1292 Calamotropha paludella 17
1336 Eudonia pallida 1
1348 Ringed China-mark (Parapoynx stratiotata) 1
1997 Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) 6
2197 Southern Wainscot (Mythimna straminea) 2
2289 Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) 2
2361 Rosy Rustic (Hydraecia micacea) 1
2384 Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua) 1

Sallow Kitten

The rest:
0294 Aspilapteryx tringipennella 1
0422 Argyresthia albistria 2
0516 Large Clover Case-bearer (Coleophora trifolii) 4
0658 Carcina quercana 4
0873 Blastobasis adustella 3
0874 Blastobasis lacticolella 1
0937 Agapeta hamana 12
0966 Cochylis atricapitana 1
0970 Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis cerasana) 1
0972 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis heparana) 5
1010 Red-barred Tortrix (Ditula angustiorana) 2
1036 Acleris forsskaleana 1
1076 Celypha lacunana 1
1108 Lobesia abscisana 3
1126 Ancylis badiana 1
1197 Eucosma campoliliana 1
1205 Bud Moth (Spilonota ocellana) 1
1305 Agriphila tristella 18
1331 Water Veneer (Acentria ephemerella) 1
1362 Pyrausta purpuralis 1
1378 Phlyctaenia coronata 1
1388 Udea lutealis 7
1439 Trachycera advenella 18
1452 Phycita roborella 1
1470 Euzophera pinguis 2
1640 Drinker (Euthrix potatoria) 1
1682 Blood-vein (Timandra comae) 3
1708 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata) 1
1713 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata) 2
1724 Red Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe spadicearia) 3
1725 Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe ferrugata) 1
1738 Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) 7
1742 Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata) 1
1759 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata) 1
1811 Slender Pug (Eupithecia tenuiata) 1
1825 Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) 7
1883 Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata) 2
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 5
1913 Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos alniaria) 1
1937 Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) 1
2007 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula) 1
2011 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) 8
2044 Dingy Footman (Eilema griseola) 1
2064 Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) 5
2087 Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum) 1
2089 Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) 6
2107 Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) 19
2109 Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) 18
2110 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) 5
2112 Least Yellow Underwing (Noctua interjecta caliginosa) 3
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum) 18
2173 Lychnis (Hadena bicruris) 1
2198 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura) 11
2284x Grey Dagger / Dark Dagger (Acronicta tridens/psi) 2
2297 Copper Underwing (Amphipyra pyramidea) 2
2318 Dun-bar (Cosmia trapezina) 8
2321 Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha) 10
2341 Cloaked Minor (Mesoligia furuncula) 4
2441 Silver Y (Autographa gamma) 2
2450 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita) 2
2474 Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis) 5

From the garden trap, 14/05/2010

Another generally cool night after a reasonably warm day. Again the traps were not exactly bulging, but again more new species for the year. However the oddest part of the catch was four pristinely fresh Clouded Drabs, all in the actinic - what's that all about?

Total catch 16 of 11sp. (125W MV 6 of 5, 80W actinic 10 of 6). Note that both traps held completely different species.

0648 White-shouldered House Moth (Endrosis sarcitrella) 1
1747 Streamer (Anticlea derivata) 1 [first for year]
1834 Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata) 1
1936 Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) 1
1997 Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) 1 [first for year]
2006 Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) 1 [first for year]
2028 Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) 2 [first for year]
2078 Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis) 1
2092 Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 4
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

Streamer

Lesser Swallow Prominent

Sallow Kitten

Waved Umber

Pale Tussock

The garden yearlist now stands at 62 species, whilst the overall yearlist is now at 100. Tonight we are spreading ourselves with traps across 2 or 3 of the East Leicestershire woodlands - so hopefully that will bring a few more species.

We've also been out to Huncote Embankent today, but I'm going to have to leave that until tomorrow to write about - need to get my traps sorted etc now.

From the garden trap

For one reason or another, I've still not created time enough to transcribe the digital voice recorded garden trap lists and enter them onto MapMate. In the meantime, here a couple of shots of nice species that were in the traps. Canary-shouldered Thorn (12/08/2009) Gold Spot (12/08/2009) Sallow Kitten (11/08/2009)