Field
reports - Tony Prichard
Moth nights have been particularly few so far this year due to the cold
nights with only a couple of visits to previously unvisited woods.
1st April 2006 - Moth Night at Captain's Wood
This recently acquired Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve was the first
moth night of the year - surprising that we had not managed to get out
in the field till April. A sunny day promised a good night for the
moths, however a local heavy shower soaked the area just prior to
dusk and probably dampened things down. With ancient oak pollards and
birch trees next to an area of grassland we set up four lights. Ten
species were recorded with Small Quaker, Yellow Horned, Clouded Drab,
Oak Beauty,
Diurnea fagella,
Common Quaker,
Tortricodes alternella,
Chestnut, Red Chestnut and Hebrew Character. A
Caloptilia resembling
C. betulicola or
C. elongella was also caught. Given
the predominance of birch in the wood and lack of alder it would seem
to point to
C. betulicola as
would the wing features
.
However, the distinctive white area around the hind leg trochanters is
absent so this one will have to wait for confirmation by dissection.
7th April 2006 - Moth Night at
Theberton Wood
This wood to the east of Saxmundham has a mixture of broad-leaved and
coniferous trees. Current management is in the process of widening the
rides meaning that at the moment it looks a bit like a bomb-site. The
site appears to suffer from being in a bit of a cold pocket as there
was a bit of a chill in the air on what was a relatively mild night
elsewhere. Four lights were operated in the areas of broad-leaved
woodland. Species recorded included Engrailed, Small Quaker, Chestnut,
Twin-spotted Quaker,
Diurnea fagella,
Satellite, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Dotted Border,
Tortricodes alternella and Oak
Beauty.
Reports
from Recorders around the county
Records reported in
this section have not been checked by the Suffolk Moth Panel. Many
thanks go to the recorders who provide write-ups for this section.
Mendlesham Green Records from 1st
August 2005 - Steve Woolnough
With the weather finally deciding to improve after a cold and wet first
part of the year, and an encouraging July, I was hopeful that the trend
would continue.
It did not take long before two new garden species occurred, with Black
Arches and
Grapholita janthinana
on 4th August. The third highest species total of the year took place
on 10th August, where amongst the 96 recorded were no fewer than nine
new records. These were
Catoptria
falsella,
Ditula angustiorana
(Red-barred Tortrix) ,
Agapeta
zoegana,
Anarsia spartiella,
Sophronia semicostella,
Plutella xylostella (Diamond-backed
Moth),
Euzophera pinguis,
Shaded Broad-bar and Salten Ear. Other new garden records during the
month were
Trachycera suavella
(15/8),
Agonopterix arenella
and
Archips podana (Large
Fruit-tree Tortrix) (20/8) and
Clepsis
spectrana (Cyclamen Tortrix) (29/8). There were also 10 Dusky
Thorn on 20th, the largest number I have ever recorded on one night of
a species which has apparently been declining in numbers over recent
years. On the same date there was a late Buff-tip and, during the day,
the only Humming-bird Hawk-moth of the year was observed, feeding on
Buddleia. A good total of 162 species was recorded during the month.
September also started well, with 70 species being identified on 1st,
which included seven new to the garden (
Cochylis atricapitana,
Argyrotaenia ljungiana,
Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown
Apple Moth),
Acleris rhombana
(Rhomboid Tortrix), Maiden's Blush, Treble-bar and Old Lady). Of the
commoner trap-fare, there were also 30 Brimstone Moth crammed in.
In terms of pure volume of moths, however, 5th September held the
record for the year. Within the 52 species identified, which is itself
a good total for the month, there were an estimated 200 Setaceous
Hebrew Character, 200 Double Square-spot and 300 Common Wainscot plus
25 White-point.
Careful and ongoing checking of the Copper Underwings finally bore
fruit and revealed a Svensson's on 3rd September and a second (or the
same?) on the 5th. Another new garden record was Dusky-lemon Sallow on
14th (which also occurred on 7th October). On 24th September, with the
weather a little uncertain, I ran an actinic rather than the usual MV,
and although just 17 species were recorded, no less than five were new
to the garden. These were Pink-barred Sallow, Grey Pine Carpet (also
appeared on 29th), Autumnal Rustic, Brindled Green and Large Wainscot.
Large Wainscot was also picked up into early October, with a maximum of
three on 11th of that month. A total of 97 species was recorded during
September.
Two new moths were recorded during October,
Acleris sparsana on 3rd and
Red-green Carpet on 5th. This latter date also saw a second Pink-barred
Sallow, and good totals of 31 Beaded Chestnut and 14 Angle Shades
amongst the 28 species recorded on that date. A further Dusky-lemon
Sallow was found on 7th. The trap was finally run on 30th October when
the catch comprised just 12 moths of six species, but did include a
final new garden record with a positively identified Pale November Moth
together with four Yellow-line Quaker and two Feathered Thorn, bringing
the total for the month to 41.
The trap was run for 63 nights during 2005 and 410 species were
recorded. The second half of the year was much better than the first
few months but migrants were generally scarce. Only the odd Silver Y
was found, with just a maximum of three on two nights at the end of
July for a species that can usually be seen in some numbers nectaring
during the summer evenings in the garden. After three years of
trapping, the garden total now stands at 417.
Moths at Ipswich Golf Course from December
2005 to March 2006 - Neil Sherman
December
No trapping was undertaken at the site during December, due to the cold
weather. A few moths were seen on the clubhouse wall under the security
lights on the 6th – there were 4 Scarce Umbers, 6 Mottled Umbers and a
Northern Winter Moth. I discovered a single Brick moth on the trunk of
an Ash tree during the day on the 8th, this being my latest record for
the site and only the 5th record for 2005, a very poor show for this
species. On the night of the 21st, while surveying the site for Lunar
Yellow Underwing larvae with Tony Prichard, well over 100 Winter Moths
were seen perched on oak tree trunks. Males, females and mating pairs
were all seen – this sighting is very similar to the one Tony and
myself had on the neighbouring Purdis Heath in 2004.
January
The new year started with a Winter Moth seen on the window of the house
on the 1st. The cold weather continued up until the nights of the 18th
and 19th, when conditions were exceptionally mild for the time of year
with 11 °C during the day with +5 °C overnight. A Robinson trap
was operated on both nights (in different locations), and produced the
following results. On the 18th: 22 Mottled Umber, 60 Spring Usher
(equalling the previous highest total seen in 2004), 8 Winter Moth, 8
Pale Brindled Beauty and a Chestnut.
On the 19th: Mottled Umber, 62 Spring Usher (a new record total), 3
Winter Moth, 2 Pale Brindled Beauty, Chestnut and a
Tortricodes alternella (earliest
ever record). The trap then went back into storage for the rest of the
month as the cold weather returned.
February
Yet again, cold weather dominated most of the month. A trap was only
put out on 2 occasions. On the 6th there were 22 Pale Brindled Beauty,
25 Spring Usher, 5
Tortricodes
alternella and a Chestnut. On the 13th, when the temperature was
over 5 degrees overnight, the trap was full of moths. There were 67
Spring Usher (a new site record total, beating the 62 seen last month),
37 Pale Brindled Beauty, 15
Tortricodes
alternella, 10 March Moths, 6 Dotted Borders, 2 Chestnut and
singletons of Mottled Umber (unusual so late in the winter season),
Early Moth and the first Small Brindled Beauty of the year. On the
16th, searching by torchlight after dark on oak tree trunks around the
site produced a female, 2 mating pairs and lots of male Dotted Borders.
|
Spring Usher - © Neil
Sherman |
March
March was yet again another very cold month, with springtime not really
arriving until the very end. Traps were only run on 4 nights, with 3 of
them being during the last week. On the 8th, with cloudy skies and
temperatures of +5 °C produced good quantities of March Moth (64),
Tortricodes alternella (49),
Chestnut (40) and Small Brindled Beauty (25). Also present were Dotted
Border and Satellite. Next time the traps went out was the 24th. There
were similar species present, but notably the March Moth numbers had
crashed – there was only 1. Commonest species was the Small Brindled
Beauty, with 32 trapped – this is the highest total seen at this site
in one night. There were also the first of the common
Orthosias and a few Yellow Horned.
On the windy, wet and mild night of the 29th (when one of the traps
blew apart), there were fewer of the commoner species present
previously on the 24th but there were the first Oak Beauties for the
season (4).
Best night was the 31st, when mild temperatures finally produced a good
number of moths. Commonest moth was the Small Quaker, with 110 caught
(the second highest total ever, previous best 140 in 1998). There were
also 18 Oak Beauties (highest ever total in one night), 30 Yellow
Horned (again highest in one night), 8 Engrailed, Small Brindled Beauty
(latest ever record), Dotted Border, Early Grey (first for year)
Clouded drab (first for year) plus the other commoner
Orthosias.
I have noticed that during the first 3 months of 2006, it seems that
there have been quite a few occasions when I have trapped the highest
ever totals for the site for some species. I suppose that the number of
nights when moths could fly this winter/early spring has been so
limited that they have had to take advantage when it has been warm
enough. A lot of the species involved over-winter as fully formed moths
in their pupae, waiting for the right conditions to hatch out.
There were very few daytime observations of note, not surprising really
given the weather. The first Orange Underwing for the year was seen on
the 31st, flying round birch. I also discovered a virtually fully grown
caterpillar of Lunar Yellow underwing under a sign that had fallen over
on an area of acid grassland (27th). Hopefully conditions for trapping
will improve during April.
Moths at Bawdsey - December 2005 to
March 2006 - Matthew Deans
December
Eight December Moths were trapped on 5th along with singles of Chestnut
and Angle Shades. The mild night of 14th produced 14 December Moths, a
late Feathered Thorn and a Mottled Umber.
The only other species recorded this month was the Winter Moth with
seven found at the security light.
January
The Robinson trap was run on two nights (17th and 18th) with completely
negative results!
Only one security light was operational and was checked almost
daily. Winter Moths totalled 26 moths during the month with peaks
of six and nine on the 2nd and 17th respectively. The only other moth
recorded was the Mottled Umber with two on 3rd and one on the 17th.
February
The first moths seen for two weeks at the security light due to
freezing conditions were three Winter Moths and an Early Moth on
5th. Two further specimens of Early Moth were recorded here on
6th and 12th.
The Robinson trap was operated on 6th and a single Spring Usher was
caught - only the second site record. The following nights
trapping produced a blank!
March
Three Pale Brindled Beauties and a Chestnut were trapped in the
Robinson on 8th.
The security light produced a single Pale Brindled Beauty on 12th and a
Tortricodes alternella on
19th. A March Moth was the sole moth at the light on 30th.
The final trap night in March was on 30th with singles of Clouded Drab
and Common Quaker trapped.