Suffolk Moths Blog

Toadflax Brocade is a species I’ve trapped a few times as an adult in my Ipswich garden, but until today I had never recorded it as a larva, despite a reasonable amount of Purple Toadflax self-seeding itself in various spots. The flowers have been a bit late getting going this year and are only now in full bloom so I was pleased to find a full grown larvae on a quick perusal tonight, finally confirming it as a breeding species for the garden. On this basis it may be worth checking toadflax plants elsewhere to see how  far the moth has expanded it’s range in the county.

Stuart

With the cool nights I haven’t run a trap in the garden (Spexhall, Halesworth) for a week or so and hadn’t read the blog. When I did so, yesterday, I realised I might have missed my best chance of a convolvulus hawk (my touchstone migrant species), so I had a trap on last night. Dipping under 10 degrees C this morning; twenty species in the trap (so less than the 50 or so I had been getting in late August) but including a fair number of migrants – silver y, dark sword-grass, white-point, rush veneer, Ethmia bipunctella and 9 vestals. All the latter very fresh and of a very yellow form, delicately marked with a pinkish-brown line. Much more consistent than in other years when specimens on the same night have been bright pink or with strong brown line. I presume this years they’ve all migrated from the same area at the same time.
Still no convolvulus hawk but there’s plenty of time. Even if the nights are cool there are moths about. Highlight for me last night was a pristine and very beautiful lesser swallow prominent.

Tony Hopkins.

I’ve not been running any moth traps recently, being put off by the cool nights, especially here on the sandy soil. However, I’ve still had my eyes open during the day for anything interesting. Today I was starting the annual hay cut on the acid grassland rough on the golf course, and whilst doing this I disturbed 7 Vestal moths (only one seen close enough to determine the colour form – a red striped one). I only cut a small part of the total area of rough on the site, so I do wonder how many are present over the whole site? Then what about over the whole UK? Must be thousands!
Pushed into second place in today’s sightings (would normally be a top sighting!) was a Hummingbird hawk flying round a Buddleia at work, my 4th sighting this year making it my best year ever for the moth.

Neil

3rd September addition: Continued with the hay cut this afternoon on the site and disturbed 2 more Vestal. It seems the moths maybe prefer to rest up in the more sparser, whispy grass rather than the rank thick stuff as I cut a bit of both types of habitat today and saw no moths in the thick stuff but as soon as I started on the thinner sward there they were.
Once disturbed they soon flew to an uncut area and settled on the underside of a grass stem (see photo), I suppose to look like a piece of dead leaf.

Vestal at rest in grassland today.

As the season moves on and moth numbers drop it is time to report the few days at the end of August for my garden at Hollesley. The migrant feature of this summer continues. Vestals avoided me on the day of the big influx but I picked up just one on 31st along with a Loxostege stricticalis that was pleasing as a first for me. A Scarce Bordered Straw on 28th but no Bordered Straws recently and few Small Mottled Willow but lots of Rush Veneer. A very worn female Convolvulus Hawk-moth on 29th was probably the same one caught again on 31st with noticeably less weight in eggs. Don’t suppose they will survive our winter though.

In contrast to the large moths that took the lime-light of my last post it was a couple at the other end of the size spectrum that took it on 29th. A Bucculatrix cristatella as a first for my site. I took one at a similar time of year at Snape last year. Also my second Trifurcula squamatella. I believe this is resident in my garden and feeds on the Genista aetnensis I grow as this species provides a lot of green bark for the species.

Some of you will already be aware that there was a substantial immigration into Southern England last night of the Vestal.

I caught a singleton on Friday night at Bawdsey Hall – one of the forerunners of this invasion.

Last night I was lucky enough to catch 12 at Bawdsey Hall. I also set up three lights at Iken and kicked one up out of the grass upon setting up the trap! Upon inspection of the traps this morning 14 were found here.

I have seen 28 since Friday and I have heard that Neil caught two last night at IGC. Charles Cuthbert has seen one at Kelsale. Paul Kitchener saw one by day in Ipswich yesterday.

There has been at least 32 this weekend in Suffolk. I would be interested to hear of any others.

Last day of August, a bank holiday and its tipping it down with rain outside – typical British summer weather! Has given me time to reflect on the few weeks since I last posted. Been a good period generally for moths, with counts still up over 100sp until last weekend. Noticeable how the rain and cooler temperatures have reduced moths in the last week, especially the micros.
I’ll start with a few daytime observations. Seen Hummingbird hawk twice (same moth) in the flowerbed by the work shed, mainly nectaring at Verbena, a plant I’d recommend highly for attracting this moth. Next, I’d left some Lettuce plants to go to seed in my veg garden and a search revealed about 30 larvae of Small ranunculus feeding on them. Not had the moth in the trap this year however, but will probably get a few next year now! Lastly I found the mines of Stigmella incognitella on an Apple tree in my garden, this being a new site record.
Now onto trapping highlights. Square-spotted clay (19th), Coronet (regular, I can remember when this was rare in Suffolk), Hedge rustic (first year record 20th), Beautiful yellow underwing (a few), Agdistis bennetii (a couple of sightings of this wandering saltmarsh moth), Small mottled willow (odd ones earlier in the period), Ectodemia atrifrontella (a few sightings), Tree-lichen beauty (only odd ones now, tailing off), Vitula biviella (21st), Toadflax brocade (second site record, 21st, very fresh – breeding locally perhaps?), Ptocheuusa paupella (23rd, only my second site and life record), Clay triple lines (23rd), Bulrush wainscot (a few sightings) and Vestal (2 on the 30th, part of the national influx). I also have a worn tortrix that looks very much like Zeiraphera griseana (Larch tortrix) but that will need a gen.det to be certain, would be a new site record.
A few other observations. Caught a Buff-tip on the 20th, seems a very late record to me. A couple of moths seem at a low ebb at this site this year (so far anyway). Pinion-streaked snout is normally a regular, but I’ve only seen the odd one this season. Square-spot rustic has been very low on the ground, with no counts over 10 in my traps yet, perhaps the drought conditions earlier this year didn’t favour this grass feeding species? Of course it could still be running a bit late, with the peak yet to come. Certainly I would say the whole summer has been running behind due to those cold snaps we have had.
One of the best captures of the period wasn’t a moth, but an Ant-lion trapped on the 22nd, this being the first IGC record. Hopefully more will follow and colonize the site, plenty of suitable habitat here for them.
Traps now dominated by ‘brown jobs’ now just waiting for the colourful autumn stuff to appear, shouldn’t be too long now. A few cooler nights (which are due this week) should get them moving.

Neil

Second site record Toadflax brocade

Vestal

Ant-lion

After plugging away for many years with my trusty Skinner trap and 11w actinic tube I’ve recently started experimenting with a new garden set-up in the shape of a 20w Wemlight and … thanks to Matthew … borrowed Robinson trap. The rainguard needs refining but provisional results seem to be encouraging.

Last night was an interesting case in point. With the forecast suggesting a spell of lengthy and, at times, heavy rain I would probably have had second thoughts about running my skinner. Not so the new trap which stayed dry inside and delivered two seconds for the garden in the form of Scrobipalpa costella and Nephopterix angustella, and a first (my 620th species to date) – Ypsolopha alpella

The turn in the weather gives me the opportunity to review the last two weeks for a report. Numbers in catches have decreased as the season moves on with fewer micros and some autumnal species emerging such as Red Underwing, Frosted Orange and Dusky Thorn. Migrants have continued in a similar vein to my last report with many Bordered Straw and Small Mottled Willow probably being UK bred. I have also picked up a couple of Ethmia bipunctella 11th and 14th, a Vitula biviella 14th and two Convolvulus Hawk-moths 11th and 21st. I have also had a large number of Sharp-angled Peacocks. Now whilst I do normally have the occasional individual these have coincided with immigrants such as the Dark Sword-grass which leads me to believe they are immigrant too. Quite a few third brood Double-striped Pugs appearing along with my usual Tawny-speckled and Lime-speck for this time of the year. A Vapourer on 21st was a new for site record. The 22nd was quite windy but warm and added a further two species to my site list; a Cacoecimorpha pronubana (Carnation Tortrix) with its striking orange underwings and a very colourful Scrobipalpa with patterning in shades of ochre, brown and with white scales was S. salicorniae (ex-salinella). The 22nd also provided me with the second Butterbur for my site. The Butterbur plant is quite common a little way down the road towards the Black Ditch so hopefully it is a steady resident and will see it again.