Probably the worst summer I’ve known for garden moths (and I started garden mothing in 1962). Nothing very special to report; one or two waves of rusty-dot pearl and rush veneer. Last night there were a few more migrants in the MV, including 8 silver y, rush veneer, dark sword-grass and a vestal.
One small tortoiseshell and a couple of red admirals on the flowers; all the peacocks and commas have disappeared into hibernation.
8 moth hunters met up to see if the Devon carpet was still present in the forest having last been seen a few years ago. Better weather forecast than the previous weekend with warm temperatures and some migrants turning up in Suffolk so there were high hopes for a good meeting.
9 traps deployed at the site, a mix of actinics and mv. 3 traps were run further away from the known site along the forest edge to see if Devon carpet could be found there too.
We all then gathered at the sheet light to wait for the hordes of moths to arrive in the warm conditions. Well, we waited and waited but the moths only slowly trickled in sadly. Checking round the traps found a similar story. This has been fairly typical this year throughout the summer so was to be expected I suppose. However, it wasn’t all a waste of effort as some quality moths were recorded amongst the 75+sp noted.
The target moth Devon carpet was recorded, with 4 coming in – 3 in the known habitat area plus another in a trap running out on a ride through the forest away from the wetland edge. Other notables included Oblique carpet (6 recorded), Monopis monachella (5 noted mainly in one of Keith’s traps), both Sharp-angled and the Peacock moths, Eudonia pallida, Small seraphim, Bordered beauty, Webb’s wainscot, Small wainscot, Bulrush wainscot, Evergestis pallidata, Pinion-streaked snout (a good number), Crescent, Hedge rustic, Agriphila latistria, Acleris rhombana, Clay triple lines (2nd brood) and Stenolechia gemmella. We also had some Bactras, some of which were certainly just lancealana but others were smaller and showed the brown streak near the apex with 2 parallel dark lines of lacteana. Some specimens have been retained for checking just to confirm they are lacteana. With the first Suffolk record found close by it will be no surprise if they are.
What of the migrants? Well, we had 2, a Plutella xylostella and a Cydia amplana. Not exactly the hordes we were expecting!
Neil
Devon carpet (picture from 2013)
Oblique carpet
Monopis monachella
I wasn’t expecting much from the trap last night having returned home under the same clear skies that meant a relatively quiet night in Dunwich Forest so, finding a specimen of Euspilapteryx auroguttella sitting in its charactistic tripod pose, with antennae spinning, came as a bit of a surprise – and is a fab addition to the garden list. Getting a decent image will test both my nerves and skill so, for the time being, pictured below is one I managed to breed out of a cone on St John’s Wort collected from Wolves Wood in 2013. Also taken last night was the second garden record of Aproaerema anthyllidella.
E. auroguttella (ex Wolves Wood 2013)
Looking bad weather for Saturday night so the meeting will be tonight (Friday). Hopefully see you there, may even pick up some migrants as there are some about.
This meeting orginally planned for last week at Dunwich Forest has been re-arranged for this weekend now we have some better weather. Meet in the car park at TM461711 at 7.30pm. From here we will move off into the forest down to the edge of the Walberswick wetland. Targets for the night Devon carpet plus wainscots.
Looking at the weather for the 2 nights Saturday could be wet so this will probably go ahead Friday. Will confirm tomorrow so watch the blog.
Neil
The excitement that was a record breaking night at Chalk Lane, and then coming home to find a specimen of Elegia similella in the garden trap feels more like a fading memory than an event that happened just six weeks ago. Since then, the one constant has been a general lack of moths, both in terms of species and numbers – a situation that is sadly being played out all to often elsewhere. That said, persistence pays and I have managed to add a few species to the garden list, perhaps the most interesting of which have been Aproaerema anthyllidella (20 July), Parectopa ononindis (24 July) and Apodia bifractella (2 Aug). Not new but still rare here have been second records of Stathmopoda padella (21 July), Aspilapteryx tringipennella (22 July) and Ypsolopha dentella (23 Aug), my third garden record of Tree-lichen Beauty (13 Aug) and fourth garden records of Black Arches (11 Aug) and Epinotia nisella (24 Aug). The warm weather these past few nights has also delivered two Rush Veneers, and single Rusty-dot Pearl and Latticed Heath. Not quite the migrant moth haul I was hoping for but one can only dream.
On the non-moth front, I had quite a few Bradycellus verbasci the night after Raymond and it has also been nice to hear and see small parties of House Martins passing overhead throughout much of this week. That, and the fact that the Swifts have gone and the nights are starting to draw in is as sure a sign as any that the summer is over.
Tree-lichen Beauty
Apodia bifractella
Hello, it’s me again. Lots of ‘small stuff’ on the night of 22nd. Tons of Agriphila geniculea. Water Veneer, Corixids, flies and beetles. Notably that small light chestnut beetle we also had a lot of a few years back and this time I decided to put a name to it. Bradycellus verbasci.
Just a quick note to say that a second female Bactra lacteana turned up in the specimens taken home from Abbey Farm on 5th August. This one showed extensive orange/brown scaling similar to the image in Lepiforum and may represent a common appearence of the female of this species. The two dark dashes are present but confused amongst the other dark scales on the forewing. This specimen was larger that the two previously reported.
6 people attended this meeting at the North Cove SWT reserve. 9 traps deployed covering the wet woodland and 2 open fen meadow areas on the site. Good numbers of moths came in to most of the lights (well, a lot of Mother of Pearls did!). Highlights from the list of 130 species included the following. Triple-spotted pug (one noted at Keith’s trap out in the fen meadow, one of the target species for the night and a new moth for one person), Ancylis badiana (at least 15 noted, a good number, all checked for the rarer Ancylis paludana), Pinion-streaked snout, Small wainscot, Webb’s wainscot, Hypatima rhomboidella, Dusky thorn (good numbers), Gold spot, Maple pug (seems to be cropping up everywhere this year), Small rufous, Platytes alpinella, Cochylis molliculana, Crescent, Dingy shell, Ypsolopha nemorella and dentellas, Currant pug, Coronet, Scallop shell, Acleris rhombana and the first Flounced rustic for the season. As has been the norm this year underwing moths and other common species in very low numbers, especially the wainscots.
A Great silver water beetle also came in to one light. With moths calming down around midnight we decided to pack up. This site will be worth a return visit next year as the wet meadow areas look very interesting with a good variety of plants present.
Neil
Sorting through the catch on 17th August, ‘that’s new’ ‘not seen one like that before’. Moth placed in a tube. Lens to hand and took a look. Heart started pounding. ‘It’s beautiful’. ‘Can’t be can it’. ‘Where’s the book’. Thumbs through the Olethreutids. ‘Yes, it is, really is’ ‘Wow’.
Perfect condition Notocelia incarnatana in the trap in my garden at Hollesley on 17th August. I thought I couldn’t do it justice by trying to photograph it myself so the photo is courtesy of Paul Kitchener. The species is not known from this part of the UK. With the wind over the few days prior to the catch potentially blowing continental species across to us we cannot necessarily claim it as a Suffolk resident. Non-the-less it is a Suffolk Record. The species is noticeably narrower winged than the more familiar N. trimaculana or N. rosaecolana.
