I’ve run the garden trap recently on a couple of warmer nights. I don’t normally get too much of interest at this time of year but this spring I’ve been picking up some of the woodland species – Tortricodes alternella, several on both occasions, Spring User on both occasions and an Oak Beauty last night. Last night also saw my first Small Quaker and Epiphyas postvittana of the year, a couple of Chestnuts and a site first with Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.
Finally picked up my first Dotted Border on 25th. Other additions from the 27th Double-striped Pug, Oak Beauty, Agonopterix scopariella and a beautifully marked Acleris cristana. The Speculation: well I have picked up a second Red-headed Chestnut. The first was a male of typical colouration. This second one a female of the abberation glabra. On the presumption that the female has or will mate then the chances are there will be larvae this year. Whilst this species is regarded as an immigrant, these specimens are more likely to have overwintered than be February immigrants. I see a number of recent records for Bawdsey, which is the next but one parish to the south. Perhaps we have an established breeding population of the Red-headed Chestnut here.
I was pleased to find a male Lead-coloured drab in my garden trap this morning, first one for the year. Looks like more species are coming out now in the continuing mild conditions.
Neil
Almost 20 degrees at IGC yesterday, and with it still being about 13 degrees at dusk it was always going to be a great night for moths. The 2 traps put out absolutely covered in moths this morning, could well have been my best ever February night (but not checked back yet to see). 13sp, 586 moths! Some very high counts of certain species:
T.alternella – 232
Pale brindled beauty – 70
March moth – 40
Dotted border – 33
Small brindled beauty – 39
Spring usher – 30
Most interesting moths were singles of Acleris logiana and Agonopterix ciliella. First Small quaker too.
I think that the warm spring last year has helped boost numbers this year, there certainly seemed to be good numbers of caterpillars of some of the above mentioned species around when I did some beating.
There could possibly be some more mild nights next week, be interesting to see if more species start coming out.
Neil
Slowly pushing up my site list with Tortricodes alternella, Ypsolopha ustella(22nd), Clouded Drab (23rd) and a Red-headed Chestnut (23rd). Catches also included Agonopterix heracliana 23 on the 23rd, A. alstromeriana, Acleris ferrugana/notana, March, Early, Spring Usher, Pale Brindled Beauty, Hebrew Character, Satellite, Chestnut and one Dark Chestnut. Doesn’t look so promising tonight but we shall see how it goes.
I put one trap out last night. My first effort this season. A ten moth, six species total for the night with two species at my living room window not the trap.
MV; Tortricodes alternella, Pale Brindled Beauty, Chestnut and notana or ferrugana.
Window; monodactyla and heracliana.
Today I found a Twenty Plume moth flitting around in an outbuilding
Only eight moths of five species in the garden last night, two of which were new site records – Tortricodes alternella and Spring Usher. The other species caught were Common Quaker, Chestnut and Agonopterix heracliana
I found a hibernating Humming-bird Hawk-moth on the window ledge of a block of flats I was visiting in Yarmouth today. I removed it from its resting place as it would have had difficulty in finding a way out when ready to fly. It is alive and well and in the cool. Should I release on the next warm day or wait till next month?
Brian
For a few years now I’ve been searching for the flightless females of some of the species of moths around at this time of year, most of which I did obtain without too much difficulty. The one species that I just could not get was the March moth. This moth is very common here at IGC, but despite searching lots of tree trunks at night and breeding caterpillars through I just didn’t get one! Until this year, when a check of my pot of March pupae yesterday revealed a female! This has now completed my quest for all the macro species found in Suffolk, just need the 2 found further north in the UK – the Rannoch brindled beauty and the Belted beauty to complete the set, hope to find them later on this Spring.
Neil
March moth female bred from larva collected IGC 2011
After 3 weeks of cold nights, it was good to get 2 mild ones in a row. On Thursday I had 5 species including my first Common Quaker of the year. Yesterday (Friday) I took the traps to nearby mainly oak woodland and in 2 hours, 5.30 to 7.30 had over 100 moths of 7 species, including 63 Torticodes alternella. Not bad for February!
Brian
