Suffolk Moths Blog

My catches here at Hollesley are still only in the teens for species and very few moths but the diversity has increased. Species for the time of year such as Cochylis atricapitana, Evergestis forficalis, Poplar Hawk-moth and Shuttle-shaped Dart are in the catches. Orthosias are looking very sad apart from the Powdered Quaker. The Common Quaker in particular seems to have had a dismal season. Prominents and Pugs on the increase and taken a Mullein. Finally had a new for the site by way of a Toadflax Brocade, a moth that seems to be on the up.Forecast for more humid weather is encouraging as the cold wind here by the coast may be part of the reason my numbers are low, so I shall be wandering off to a couple of my off home sites over the next couple of days. Pic of 4 of my catches on 5th May.

Brian and I went out to Monk’s Hole/Scale Marsh last night. My first use of a moth trap since 3rd October! It had been looking likely to be a good night for the time of year a few days earlier when arranged and this proved, tentatively, to be the case with the site chosen for the particular conditions forecast.

Brian was aiming for 20 species and I 25. Very slow to start it didn’t look good and after the first trap round inspecting the 9 traps we had just 10 species. The second and final trap round was nearly over with one trap to go at 20sp. Then it was up to 26 and by the time we were packed up the total had risen to an excellent 34 species. The best performing traps were the sheet trap and one out on the marsh by sallow blossom. One of mine in the woods took just 2 moths!

Brian recorded 180 individuals, around a quarter being D. subpurpurella. I was lucky enough to see all the common Orthosias with some of the Common Quaker in excellent condition. Other moths included Purple Thorn, Powdered Quaker, Oak-tree Pug, Water Carpet, Chocolate-tip, Brown Silver-lines, Yellow-barred Brindle, Engrailed, Scalloped and Pebble Hook-tip, S. steinkellneriana, Pammene argyrana.

That concludes my gloat for today. Surprising that others have not done so well, but I’m sure by the weekend there will be plenty on the wing everywhere!

First time it felt warm for ages yesterday, and with cloud forecast overnight I ran 4 traps, 2 at home and 2 at the sheds. I didn’t have really high hopes of a big catch, as I think it takes a few warm nights for things to get going, but surely it must be better than it has been I thought to myself.
Sadly, this morning it was worse than I feared, with only a small handful of moths in each trap and most of those were worn quakers. There were a few bits to lift the mood slightly, with first year records of Lesser swallow prominent and Pale mottled willow, plus a female Emperor, Great prominent (2), Brindled beauty and a number of Pine beauty (6).
A brown larva hiding underneath one trap sheet has turned out to be a Double square-spot. At least the dawn chorus was worth getting up early for while sorting the traps!
Hopefully with some warmer weather supposedly coming later this week things will get going.

Neil

The brown larva of Double square-spot, only thing worth photographing from last night!

Had my first Adela cuprella today (just the one). Flying over a flowering Sallow in a warm sheltered area away from the cool breeze. First Speckled wood of the year there too. Only moth I’ve seen this week so far!

Neil

Neil’s right, this weather is not conducive to moth trapping … so it was it was a relief last weekend to see a bit of colour and get a positive result from my attempts to breed through a leafminer. The species in question (pictured below) was Phyllonorycter lautella – one of three adults that emerged from oak leaves I’d picked up during last October’s Leafminer Day at North Warren.

P. lautella (ex North Warren Oct 2015)

Brrr! With it being so chilly outside now my moth traps will be staying in the garage until it warms up again. So, I’ve got a bit of time to reflect on the last week. Trapped twice, on the 18th and the 21st, with the 18th by far the better night. 3 traps caught 20sp, with Dyseriocrania subpurpurella the commonest with 50 caught, followed by Common quaker (25). New for the year were Coleophora albicosta, Esperia sulphurella, Red chestnut (very worn) and Nut-tree tussock . On the 21st, not so much seen due to the cool east wind blowing but the 2 traps in sheltered spots caught 13sp, with first year records of Great prominent, Angle shades, Phyllonorycter quercifoliella and Brindled beauty.
Also, on the 19th, as it was a warm sunny afternoon I put out a virgin female Emperor moth in the garden that I bred from eggs laid by the female I trapped last year. Within 2 minutes, 2 males rushed in. One successfully mated with her and I now have another batch of eggs to breed through!

Neil

Lunar marbled brown male

Brindled beauty

I’m finding this spring very frustrating for moth recording. Even fairly warm nights are not producing respectable catches in my garden traps (been restricted to these this week due to illness). Orthosia numbers have been poor, with only the Common quaker living up to its name. Even the normally abundant Dyseriocrania subpurpurella has only been noted in single figures and I normally see a lot of these in the daytime too but it hasn’t been the case this year so far. Perhaps it is all still to happen. I’ve only had 2 new species for the year this week, Lunar marbled brown and Caloptilia syringella. With arctic winds predicted for the coming weekend my list won’t be getting any longer yet!

How have others fared? I expect anyone who has trapped woodland has done better.

Neil

Tempted by the prospect of a reasonable night I ran the trap last night for only the fourth time this year, recording the to be expected early spring species: Clouded Drab, Double-striped Pug, Early Grey, Hebrew Character, Streamer and both Small & Common Quaker. It was one of the latter that provided most interest with its unusual ‘ink tip’ markings …. and now also seen from below. 

Through a hand lens it is still difficult to tell just what caused this. Some areas look as though they could be as a result of contact with a painted surface, others less so. The one thing a can be certain about is that its a female as I now have a pot full of eggs!

cerasi – Woolpit 2016-04-13 (below)

Common Quaker – Woolpit 2016-04-13

Relatively mild and still night last night, with heavy rain at dawn. My garden moth trap doesn’t usually do very well for Geometrids but last night I had a few (streamer, engrailed, early thorn, brindled pug…) as well as the usual quakers (including another lead-coloured drab). But more surprising was the appearance of a dark sword-grass and rush veneer. I’ve never seen migrants at this time of the year before. Were any coastal traps on last night?