Still feels very mild for the time of year, although now conditions have turned more stormy with strong winds and rain. I’ve continued trapping here at IGC when the weather has been OK on the 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Much too windy this weekend, would need a few bricks in the bottom of the traps to stop them blowing away! There has been a very noticeable drop in the number of species and total number of moths caught over the week, with 18/17sp the first 2 nights followed by 7 then 11sp on the second. Still hangers on from last month with Brick, Large wainscot, Merveille du Jour and Streak caught. Had singles of Large yellow underwing and Setaceous hebrew character on the 10th, long after the main flight time of the species here so my thoughts are they were migrants brought in on the warm winds that night. Other migrants very scarce over the period at this inland site, best a Vestal on the 12th but that could have been locally bred from the good numbers seen on the site earlier in the autumn. Otherwise only odd Silver Y and Plutella xylostella.
November moths and Yellow line quakers dropped off later in the week, down to single figures. December moth and Mottled umber picked up in numbers on the 12th. First Scarce umber (2) noted then too.
Following on from Raymond’s sighting of an Acleris schalleriana, I took one on the 11th, my first site record. A moth that can be found in Essex in good numbers so maybe in the warm weather it is moving north. I know of no other records of the species other than the ones on the Suffolk moth guide.
Have had a couple of non-lepidoptera insects of note too. First, found Oedemera femoralis (a beetle) on the 3rd. This species I was told to watch out for by the Coleoptera recorder around Ivy blossom in the autumn. Myself and a few others from the moth group noted it at Little Blakenham on the Ivy there a few years ago, this being the first county record. So my sighting could well be the second. It was in my garage which is not far from a patch of Ivy. It hibernates as an adult hence why it must have been inside. The other species was the quite large and colourful Western Conifer Seed Bug that I found attracted to my kitchen window on the 12th, my third site record. One to watch out for at moth traps as it is drawn to light.
Just the Northern winter moth to record for the year here, so won’t be long now before the traps are packed away till next year.
Neil
Thanks for the schalleriana find and comments. Perhaps it can spread up from Essex or elsewhere. The winds have very much put me off. Rather too much I think. My last trapping was on the 10th and did produce interest. The Blair’s Shoulder-knot has turned up a couple of times now and I had a very late Bordered Straw on the 10th which could have been home bred. Still getting Udea ferrugalis, Silver Y and Dark Sword-grass. Lots of very varied Mottled Umbers this year too with Matthew reporting the same.