Warm night brings in 2 welcome surprises to the IGC traps.

With the unseasonal warmth on Sunday, it was well worth trapping despite the clear sky and bright moon. 3 traps deployed, mv and 30w twin actinic at home plus another mv up in the woods. A check of the garden traps a few times before bed showed promise, with micros and pugs seen around the lights. There was also a Brown long-eared bat feeding at close range round the actinic, not a common sighting around here. I hoped it wasn’t going to eat all the moths (it didn’t!).
A few micros were tubed up in the dark in the morning whilst closing down the traps before work, ready for checking later, including a tortrix that I hastily thought at the quick glance I had was an early Rhyacionia pinivorana.
Sorting the traps later in the day revealed a good catch of micros, less so of the macros. 26sp in all. On turning over one of the trays in the garden trap I spotted a small dark Agonopterix that I recognized was purpurea, a moth I’d only seen once before at Bawdsey. A new site record and my 1200th species of moth for IGC! Other things of possible interest included Pebble hook tip (year first), Water carpet, Caloptilia robustella (an early one), Caloptilia semifascia (2), Knot grass (year first), Great prominents, Purple thorn (year first), Plutella xylostella (again year first) and Muslin moth (year first).
Commonest moth Dyseriocrania subpurpurella with over 180 caught making up the bulk of the good micro numbers. One other purple Eriocrania sp that will need dissection.
Now back to the tortrix. Wasn’t until the evening that I had time to sit down and sort through the moths tubed up first thing. On checking the tortrix, I realized that it wasn’t what I thought and was in fact Gravitarmata margarotana, another new site record and a first for me having not seen it at all before! I would be interested to hear of any other records of this moth in the county following Clive Moore’s original one a few years back. Was new to Norfolk last year I see from their web site. One that is almost certainly spreading.
Back down to earth last night however – cooler with the bright moon. Just 8sp 12 moths in the 2 traps I ran, with only one subpurpurella!

Neil

Agonopterix purpurea - IGC's 1200 species of moth.

Agonopterix purpurea – IGC’s 1200 species of moth.

Gravitarmata margarotana

Gravitarmata margarotana

 

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4 Responses to Warm night brings in 2 welcome surprises to the IGC traps.

  1. Paul Kitchener says:

    What a fantastic species total Neil – well done. And I’ll certainly let you know if I see G. margarotana! I’m looking forward to seeing the photos.

    Paul

  2. Paul Kitchener says:

    Very nice looking moths Neil – and photos.
    I’ve just seen photos of another that was taken in Norfolk very recently (Norfolk Moths FB page).

    Paul

  3. Raymond Watson says:

    Nice ornate moth Gravitarmata. I had one here at home on 10th May 2015. Posted on this site. I think Matthew has taken it too but that might be what you refer to as the original which was not at Bawdsey.

  4. Neil says:

    Matthew hasn’t taken it at Bawdsey yet, the original was taken by Clive Moore up in Dunwich, specimen passed on to Matthew I believe. It certainly is a very nice moth.

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