Suffolk Moths Blog

Over the past few nights some late and highly unseasonal moths have appeared at the Bawdsey illuminations.

Still catching this weekend the pyrales culmella, straminella, tristella, geniculea, aurata, despicata and forficalis.

Amongst the geos were Common Emerald, Single-dotted Wave and Engrailed. Dingy Footman still appearing and I was astonished to see fresh specimens of Coxcomb and Swallow Prominents!  Two Bright-line Brown-eye this morning and a dagger species (probably grey) was also a distraction from the hordes of pronuba and xanthographa.

A few immigrants still arriving Pearly Underwing – first of the year – last night (purplish form) a few Dark Sword-grass, Latticed Heath, lots of gamma and trickle of xylostella, noctuella, ferrugalis and amplana. 

First Red Underwing, Bulrush Wainscot and the Sallow over the past few nights too.

I’m keen to hear about your unseasonal catches too.

My first posting for a while, having not done much trapping for various reasons. Only 18 sp’ to 11w actininc – the highlights being single Dusky Thorn and 3 Centre-barred Sallow. Also, just the one Silver Y in the trap.

Until last night, things had been verging on the unspectacular around the village. The cold nights brought very little in, on the 1st for example I had just nine species (23 moths). There was a flurry of Rush Veneers (4 on the 29th the best) and a single Dark-Sword Grass on the 3rd. Singles of Mullein Wave and Southern Wainscot have put in their annual “for one-night only” showing at home and a Barred Red took the village list to 312 on the 3rd.
I have been getting sporadic singles of Lunar Yellow Underwing for a month or two, but last night among 63 moths I had six. All showed the solid black mark on the forewing and all were the size of Lessers (I appreciate that some Large Yellows have a similar marking). Am I right in thinking that Lessers never show this feature?

Yesterday was the worst night for hornets so far this year. In 2 of my traps nearest the woods alongside the Waveney, I spent most of the time potting them as they came in, fortunately in a fairly docile condition. (If you let them get into the trap, they start dissecting the moths).
In between doing this, there were several moths still about, several Gold Spot, a late Reed Dagger, Yellow-tail, Small Blood-vein, 3 Webb’s Wainscot and a very dark, almost black Twin-spot Wainscot. Square-spot Rustic is still the most abundant moth with over 50 counted. Autumn moths included Large Wainscot and 3 Dusky Thorn – new for the site. Just 5 Silver Y and a Cydia amplana were the only migrants, although many of the large numbers of Angle Shades & Setaceous Hebrew Character could have been migrants. Only a few other micros still about including a few D forficella, S gigantella, C paludella and China-marks plus a couple of C hybridella.
The one that got away was a possible Rush Wainscot. Everything looked right, the colour, no dots on the wing edges. It sat perfectly still until I got the lens out to have a closer look and suddenly took off not to be seen again. – And the final count of hornets was 18.

Brian

Last night after dark, on entry to my unlit office/computer shed/ former Grandfathers’ Barber Shop, call it what you will, I spotted a silhoutte of a noctuid inside the window. Switching on the light revealed it to be, not a Square-spot Rustic or Silver Y, the most common moths here at this time, but a Dark Spectacle. On the 2nd September I had my second record for A. acanthadactyla. Both records from this year from this building. Also earlier in the year two Meal moth, generally recorded in here every Summer, and Large Tabby and my second female Ghost Moth record for the building too!

A Convolvulus hawk (Herse convolvuli) turned up in my Grundisburgh garden moth trap on Monday night (Sept 3rd).

Have many been seen in Suffolk this year?

Yes it was a good catch and have the same common species in proportion as mentioned by Matthew plus Vine’s Rustic. No exceptional species but pleased to add Feathered Ranunculus and Crambus hamella to my site list. Believe I also have Cochylis molliculana but will need to confirm it with a dissection to satisfy me. Small number of other micro’s to ID too.