The latest issue of this bulletin is now available (diluted a bit with butterfly information). It’s a very useful resource on the conservation work being done for lepidoptera around the country and has a good list of published articles as well at the end.
It can be downloaded from Lepidoptera Conservation Bulletin 2012
Managed to see 8 Adela cuprella this afternoon at the golf course. All were resting on high twigs of flowering Sallow bushes (both male and female plants), catching the sun after a heavy rain shower. Didn’t see any flying. So now will be a good time to check Sallows near you for this moth, it’s very distinctive with metallic gold wings and very long antennae, and when it does fly I normally see it in small groups fluttering together over the tops. Last year I found it at Bromeswell, Rendlesham forest and Staverton Park. It must be at other locations just waiting to be discovered. A word of advice though if you do go looking, I would recommend taking binoculars as they are pretty essential for viewing this moth as it always seems to be high up!
Good luck!
Neil
Cool weather has meant I’ve not run traps for a while, but as there appeared to be a very slight improvement last night I gave it a go with 2 lights in the wooded area around the work-sheds. 10sp seen, with the only moth of some interest being Frosted green (5 trapped). No improvement in the weather forecast with more cold nights to come over the weekend. A bit different from last April!
Neil
I too ran a trap last night as it was mild and cloudy, pity about the rain making everything wet but we do need it in the current dry conditions.
Was worth the effort, as I picked up 11sp, my best species count for a while and also more moths present. Only one new species for the year and that was a Purple thorn, one of my favorite springtime moths.
In response to Brian’s lack of Frosted green, I’ve only had 2 so far so maybe it is only just starting to emerge. I’ve picked up Oak-tree pug too, on the 2nd, my earliest ever date for that species.
Hopefully there will be some more warm nights coming soon, although not looking to promising for the early part of the week.
Neil
At long last, a cloudy evening and 10 deg. Too good to miss, so I set the traps up on a regular site in nearby woodland. The only blot was a couple of short bursts of rain that made everything very wet. Even so, 17 species and about a 100 moths in the 2 hours, with Agonopterix arenella, Powdered Quaker, Early Tooth-striped and Oak-tree Pug being new for the year, plus an Acleris that needs another opinion. (still no Frosted Green).
Brian
I’ve put an early beta version of the new moth guide up here
It will take a long time to load the page the first time as there are a lot of files to download and I’ve not yet compressed the files to make page loading faster. There are a few aspects that are running a bit slow at the moment within the page (especially if you use Internet Explorer for some reason) but I thought it may be of interest to some. If you have any comments let me know.
Tony
I’ve just upgraded the blog software so blog authors will notice a difference to how the dashboard is laid out. It shouldn’t be too unfamiliar – let me know if you have any problems.
Tony
I’ve put up the events list for 2012 on the web site (link). There’s still a few meetings waiting to be confirmed but I’m hoping that these will go through as planned. If anyone has any ideas for some day time meetings then let me know, they’ve not proved very popular in the past.
The first two days of April have brought me 3 new additions to my climbing site list. Muslin moth (male) on 1st, Powdered Quaker and Agonopterix arenella both on 2nd. Catches with decreasing Small Quaker also included, Clouded Drab, Common Quaker, Lead-coloured Drab, Twin-spotted Quaker, Hebrew Character, Early Grey, Pine Beauty, Red Chestnut, March moth and Emmelina monodactyla.
April 1st 2011 stands out as the evening I had my first really good micro of last year, Pammene giganteana, along with 13 other species. So more out of interest than expectation, I thought I’d try the same site on same date this year as it’s nearby, just to see what turned up. Using the same traps as last year: – very little. I gave up after an hour, having caught just 13 moths of 5 species and no micros.
The difference? – The weather? – Mild & cloudy last year, clear, bright moon, 6 deg. this year.
Or the season? – 3 or 4 weeks early last year, maybe less so this year.
Brian
