Suffolk Moths Blog

With leaves starting to tumble down in quantities on the site this week, the moths too have started to take on more of an autumnal flavour (at last!). Species noted for the first time for the season have included Brindled green, Autumnal rustic, Large ranunculus (only a wing found, the remains of a bat’s dinner!), Sallow, Barred sallow, Brick and Blair’s shoulder knot. Most of these species appeared last night in the warm conditions. A Chestnut has also been seen on a small patch of flowering Ivy out on the course, the first since the spring. I’m trying to find a decent area of Ivy locally to look at but nothing has been as good as the much missed clump near my garden that was destroyed in St Jude’s storm last year.
There are still a few species appearing that I wouldn’t expect, either late emergers or second brood moths. These have included Kent black arches, Rosy footman, Clepsis consimilana and Acrobasis consociella. A single Lunar yellow underwing has also been caught.
Some of my regular species that I would normally expect have yet to be caught this year – Black rustic, Deep-brown dart and Heath rustic are examples.This could be because I can’t run traps around the workshed area at present due to work going on there, this is where I would expect to catch better numbers of these compared to the garden. Even so, I still would expect to get them in lower numbers there.Nice to finally open a trap and find some colourful moths in there compared to the brown jobs that I’ve seemingly been getting for a long time now!

Neil

Jon Clifton has kindly checked through a few difficult micros I sent to him from the summer months. Some of the records are from sites on the Somerleyton estate VC25 where I join Keith to run our traps. We are able to add Epinotia tetraquetrana, Coleophora sternipennella and Gynnidomorpha alismana to the Herringfleet Hills site.

Gynnidomorpha alismana (m) Herringfleet Hills

We were interested to see results from 2 specimens of Spilonotia laricana/ocellana trapped among the larches of Ashby Warren, but both of these were females which prove to be very tricky and the result was inconclusive.
One interesting record from just over the border Aldeby, VC27 was for a P manniana I sent that Jon determined as Phalonidia udana. This is a new record away from the broads and the site is just 200 yards from Suffolk VC25. So it will be well worth checking any manniana taken in the Beccles Marshes/Oulton Marshes area as udana has not yet been confirmed in Suffolk.

I was pleased with the results as 7 of those given Id’s are new for me.

Brian

One of my Bawdsey traps was this morning graced by the presence of a female Four-spotted Footman. I took a male of this species here several months ago.

A great selection of autumn moths now flying with numbers building nightly of Grey Pine Carpet, Red-green Carpet, Lunar Underwing, Beaded Chestnut, Brown-spot Pinion, Brick, Autumnal Rustic, Large Wainscot, Feathered Ranunculus, Feathered Brindle, Black Rustic, Barred Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow and Sallow to name some. Deep-brown Dart and Mallow were recorded for the first time this year last night. A single Orange Sallow (a rarity here) was noted on 18th. Heath Rustic has had a good season here with regular captures.

Still catching lots of yellow underwings with a lovely marked example of Lesser Yellow Underwing taken last night. Orbona still about though some now a little worn.

Migrants including odd Pearly Underwings; regular Dark Sword-grass and Silver Y. Another Golden Twin-spot was taken on 20th; single Vestals on 18th and 19th and a Bedstraw Hawk-moth on 18th.

Many oddities (extra broods etc) recently have included Bee Moth, Swallow-tailed Moth, Yellow-tail, Buff Footman, Marbled White-spot and Tawny Shears. These have helped bolster numbers and 105 species were recorded on the foggy night of 19th.

Micros have been surprisingly good with pyrales including pallida, angustea, abietella, limbata, extimalis, nubilalis, ferrugalis, falsella, contaminella, straminella, hamella, palumbella and sociella in the past week. Tortrix still about including a probable E. caprana, atricapitana, hybridella, molliculana and postvittana. The adventive Tachystola acroxantha has been putting in a regular appearance.

I am still awaiting the appearance of Red & Yellow-line Quaker, Satellite, Chestnut and Merveille du Jour although I anticipate catching these by the end of the month.

Sadly the nights total on Saturday was not good, especially when this is the best site on the Somerleyton Estate. 8 traps, conditions for most of them perfect, although breezy where exposed and temperature around 16C. 34 species recorded including 1 for gen det as probable E. sordidana. We also had E. tenerana. The best sight was Autumnal Rustic with 7. Autumn species made up 7 of the total. This site is generally on a par with the coastal species numbers and the night fell well short of a reasonable catch. We got pretty wet as it poured just after we decided to pack up. On the plus side no Hornets encountered.

Saturday, possibly Friday I’m planning to trap at a new location, Arable Field margin, Ancient Hedgerow with Ivy etc and a long stretch of Evergreen Oak of which there is a lot in the parkland area of the Hall. Anyone wishing to join me welcome, contact me for details of this easy to find venue and meeting point. I have had my eye on this spot for many years, easy trapping.

A few of us met up at Wolves wood last night to try a bit of trapping out and about. Looked promising on arrival with the temperature still at 20 degrees. 2 125w mv traps plus wine ropes deployed.
Sat down then and waited for the moths to arrive. Waited some more, nothing. Check of the wine ropes, nothing. Back to the traps, one moth in. Check of ropes, nothing again. This was the general pattern for the whole session. Gave up at about 10pm with 16sp on the list and a total of 24 moths trapped. Best moth Epinotia maculana (5 recorded) but this is a known site for the species. Brick (1), Lunar underwing (1), Large yellow underwing (1), Square-spot rustic (1) also recorded. One Plutella xylostella too. Still 17 degrees at the end of the session. This moth night did nothing to allay my concerns about moth numbers late summer/autumn this year at inland sites. Just what is going on? Surely there should have been a lot more autumnal species and even common ones like Large yellow underwing about than what we got? Yes, it was a clear sky but there should still have been moths coming in as the moon isn’t that bright at present. Is it a climatic factor that is keeping numbers high on the coast? Don’t think its habitat related as the sites where low numbers are being seen (in my experience) don’t seem to have changed much at all.
What do others think?

Neil

Found a single male Four-spotted footman in one of my traps this morning, my 4th sighting of one at this site (other 3 were caught last year). The only decent migrant I’ve recorded recently.

Neil

Traps have been rather busy this week, particularly with yellow underwings. I’m noting around 90 species each night, not bad for mid September. Like Raymond and others getting a lot of second or third brood moths including Heart & Dart, White & Buff Ermines, Buff Arches, Dark Arches, Rosy Footman and Gold Spot to name a few.

A Small Wainscot was only the second Bawdsey record on 14th. 12 Lunar Yellow Underwing on 10 September was a record count. Many autumn species now flying with decent numbers of Lunar Underwing, Beaded Chestnut, a few Feathered Ranunculus, Feathered Brindle, Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow, Autumnal Rustic and Brick. Also an early Mottled Umber.

Migrants have included Bedstraw Hawk on 16th, six Convolvulus Hawks in the last couple of weeks, Pearly Underwing on 16th, red-striped Vestal, male Gem, two Golden Twin-spot, Palpita vitrealis on 16th along with the more routine migrants.

Sorry to hear of your hornet invasion Brian. Luckily I don’t see too many, just a few of the common wasp. I took the advantage of a good weather night to pay my first visit to a new site I have to work on which is based around the Rivers Alde and Fromus. A varied site from wetland to dry grassland and with scrub and with both planted and natural tree species. Running two MV traps produced 90 species with a few micros still to ID and one larger noctuid that currently has me stumped. The commoner species were Rosy Rustic, Brimstone and Cameraria ohridella. Had some of the possible second brood species as I have at home such as Ruby Tiger, Chinese Character and Archips podana also what I would guess is a third brood for Coleophora alcyonipennella. Hoped for interest in the Wainscot department but only picked up the Large and Smoky. Three Acleris species; variegana, rhombana and emargana. Three Phyllonorycter species; harrisella, klemannella and one still to ID.

Autumn species of Centre-barred Sallow, Sallow, Lunar Underwing, Brown-spot Pinion, Autumnal Rustic, Deep Brown Dart and Black Rustic, plus a poorly marked Depressaria still to ID.

Took a few migrants; Silver Y, Dark Sword-grasss, Plutella xylostella and to cap the lot a Convolvulus Hawk-moth.

Conditions yesterday evening were ideal, so I set out 4 traps on one of my sites hoping to get a few long awaited autumn species. Not many minutes after switching on, the hornets started to arrive. I can usually cope with a half dozen or so in a trap but they came in to one of the 125mvs faster than I could catch them and it was proving to be very uncomfortable as they were bombing in over my shoulder so I switched that one off. Inspecting the other 125mv which was 200 yards away, this was also fast filling up so that had to go off also. The other two actinic traps had a few hornets that I was able to cope with and these produced 33 species of which Sallow, Centre-barred Sallow, Large Wainscot, Lunar Underwing, Brown-spot Pinion, Beaded Chestnut and A, rhombana were some of the autumn species I’d been hoping for.
So it was a matter of what might have been if it hadn’t been for the hornet distraction!

Brian

Nice to find a bit of autumn colour in the moth traps today with a couple of Orange sallow caught, my first ones for the year. Nothing else colourful or of note amongst the small number of moths present. I’m hoping things will improve as the week goes on with some warm weather forecast.

Neil