Suffolk Moths Blog

Last night I took my first half-decent migrant of the year at Bawdsey Hall – a Silver Barred.  This is not a moth that I see every year; although as it happens 2013 was particularly good for the species with three caught.

I have also been lucky enough to catch three individual Red-necked Footman in recent nights.  It is possible that this moth has colonised the peninsula as it is recorded each year now.  Diamond-backed Moths, European Corn-borers and Silver Ys have been trapped in small numbers too.

The last week or so has been particularly good for pyralids.  I obtained a single of the spruce-feeding Assara terebrella – only the second site record on the 7 June.  Evergestis limbata and extimalis have been noted too.  The recent colonist tortrix Cochylis molliculana has also appeared and the rare Ethmia terminella.

Seven species of hawks have appeared at the Hall: Privet, Pine, Poplar, Lime, Eyed and both the Elephants.  Last night I took the first Garden Tiger or the season along with a fresh Cream-spot Tiger – nice to see the two together!

A couple of Flame Wainscots have appeared in the past week.  Water Ermine has had a good year here.  A Lilac Beauty last night (10th) was a Bawdsey rarity.   One of my favourites the L-album Wainscot is now flying.

I was quite surprised to take the Dun-bar so early as the night of 9 June.  Uncertain now out in some numbers and first Common Emerald too.  Large Yellow Underwing and Dark and Light Arches numbers building too!

Brian and I visited this site on Saturday night and despite the clear skies and the fact that it never got dark out in the open the moths came pouring in. Under the cover of the woodland the traps were busy. 9 traps used, with Brians 5 in the woodland, 3 of mine on the woodland/marshland border and 1 out far across the marsh. Moths really kicked off at 22.20  and never stopped. The woodland traps were really busy with the marshland trap adding a few more to the 128 species recorded.

Moths seen included; Shaded and Dotted Fanfoot. Red-necked Footman and Alder Kitten 6+ each, Flame & Southern Wainscots, Reed Dagger, Common Lutestring, Beautiful Hook-tip, Pinion-streaked Snout. Lobster moth were plentiful along with Scorched Wing which is common up here. Taleporia tubulosa the most interesting micro. Hawk-moths were Elephant, Small Elephant and Lime. First Rosy Footman seen too!

A young Tawny Owl could be heard all night, Red Deer tracks out on the marsh made getting about a little easier as they come and graze the Spring shoots of Glyceria maxima. Most abundant moth out in the open was Buff Ermine. Packing up started with the last two traps on the one and only trap round and we left the site at 02.30.

Not perhaps the best moth night around since it was clear with a moon and cool at dawn but I tallied 84 species with some nice micros.

Amongst the macros of possible interest were 4 Green Silver-lines and my first for the year for Small Phoenix and Rosy Footman.

Three Coleophora species; alticolella, caespititiella and milvipennis. Both Caloptilia robustella and alchimiella. Argyresthia retinella and three Phyllonorycter species; harrisella, heegeriella and lautella. Three torts perhaps of interest were Epinotia demarniana, E. tetraquetrana and Cochylis nana.

Also found a Glowworm in the trap and the tree bumble-bee, Bombus hypnorum and if you wish to hear the Nightingale, you cannot fail there. Three territories within the confines of the site.

Things picking up in numbers at home now with the species list in the low hundreds but nothing outstanding recently.

This afternoon (7th) I finally managed to lure a Currant Clearwing from our 3 blackcurrant bushes in the garden. I have been trying to attract this moth for the last 2 summers and was beginning to lose faith in the lures!

Like others, last night was a bit of a disappointment. I have now recorded all 4 common hawkmoths here (Elephant, Small Elephant, Poplar and Privet). Other moths of interest were Ghost Moth, Clouded-bordered Brindle and Figure of Eighty.

Mark

I’ve been missing from the local scene for a week. A family holiday in the Lake District (Duddon Valley) was a good opportunity to take a couple of traps and see what was about nearby. The cottage we rented was surrounded by acid grassland and good size upland broadleaf woodland with the surrounding fells rising to 570 meters. With all the land and woodland belonging to the estate, there was no problem running the traps from the house for as far as the cables would reach.
The weather was good and I had the traps out every evening till about 12.30, on some nights leaving the actinic out all night. Total species for the week was 95, not great when we can get over 100 in an evening in early June in Suffolk, but this includes several species we don’t get down here. In fact I recorded 9 species new to me – Chimney Sweeper, Speckled Yellow (both netted), Lunar Thorn, Satin Lutestring, Striped Twin-spot Carpet, Coronet, Saxon, Light Knot Grass, Incurvaria oehlmanniella & Capua vulgana. Several others I don’t see very often included Broom Moth and Clouded Magpie both in abundance. Midges were a problem, but the more the midges the more the moths!
So a very rewarding trip for me and not too much hassle from the family because of time spent doing ID’s and photos!
Back to the local patch with Keith tonight.

Saxon, Ulpha, Cumbria

Brian

Decided to run 2 traps at home as well as attending the SMG event last night as the weather forecast was predicting potentially good conditions for a bumper catch of moths. As you can see from the report on the SMG event, was not a great night in the end there, so how did my traps fare at home? Pretty poor really, not much flying round the lights when I got home in the early hours so closed the traps up for later checking. Later on only found 37sp, with only 2-3 moths per egg tray. Think the clear sky must have really knocked the numbers down, although recently I would say here that numbers have dropped down from the earlier good catches. Best moth probably Broom-tip. Another queen Hornet too, my 5th this year so far!

Neil

Treble lines are on the way out at home in Hollesley now with Vine’s Rustic, Flame, Large Yellow Underwing and Crambus lathionellus being prominent. Common Footman is about and my compact actinic is attracting a number of Cream-bordered Green Pea. Interested to read of the Hawk-moth numbers as I have taken all the common ones in reasonable numbers at home but not at sites I have gone mobile to. Three recent additions to my site list have been Festoon, Pinion-streaked Snout and the distinctively marked Epinotia tedella.  Notocelia trimaculana has been turning up at most sites in low number as has the Cream Spot Tiger this year.

Wandered out to the Tangham area again on 31st May. I try to cover as many habitats as possible with the placement of my two traps and on this occasion covered fen, heath and forest to get a good diverse catch. Noctuids are sparse on my visits to Tangham. The more abundant moths were; Carpatolechia proximella, Neofaculta ericetella (a new one for me), Epinotia bilunana, Cydia ulicetana, Scoparia ambigualis, Pebble Hook-tip, Small Seraphim (another one new to me) and Peacock. Also took both Caloptilia alchimiella and robustella, several Rosy Marbled (another one new to me) including a beautifully marked deep pink one and a number of Lobster Moth. Not very many conifer feeder in this catch but the Bordered White is flying and took two species of Dioryctria. A few other species new to me which was pleasing were; Pleurota bicostella, Lobesia reliquana, Epinotia tetraquetrana, Grass Wave and Coleophora milvipennis. The C. milvipennis catch is interesting since the literature states it flies in July, however I also see from The Moths of Suffolk that Neil’s specimen was also noted for May. I think the literature needs updating. Also something that is bugging me is that I keep getting Argyrestia conjugella at Tangham but only A. spinosella at home amongst my apple trees!  Catches during this period have been around the 100 mark.

It was a busy time some nights running traps during the later part of May, but then other times it was very quiet with little caught! Struggling to keep up with it all at the moment with some good nights in early June too, news on that will have to wait for another report if I get time!
As always there have been some observations of note, here are a few that come to mind.As others are reporting, hawkmoths seem thin on the ground, with only a handful of Poplar, Eyed and Small elephant seen, plus a single Pine. No Lime in May (but has since appeared in early June). Treble lines the most common species with highest count 137 on 22nd. Heart and dart and Orange footman have also been common. I’ve caught 2 Puss moths this year, that’s very good for me, don’t see it every year. Alder moth too seems to be turning up a bit (as singles). Notable things have included: Argyresthia glabratella (third site record), Telecrisis tripuncta, Cochylis nana, Pammene obscurana (third site record of this scarce tortrix), Rosy marbled (28th seems to be turning up every year here now), Pammene albuginana and Varied coronet.

Now to get back to looking at all the troublesome micros from the last few nights I’ve still to identify.

Neil