Acleris cristana

Just to inspire you into action at this time of year, this little un was found a couple of nights ago by one of Ceredigion's  newer moth-ers in the Llangeitho area.
A Tortrix moth that can be found in most months of the year, the book says not June but in the current climate anything can happen.  Most records for the county are February to April so now would be a good time to look out for them.
Favoured larval foodplant is Prunus spinosa, (Blackthorn) but also on Crataegus (Hawthorn), Malus (Apple) or Sorbus aria (Common Whitebeam).
Good hunting.
Ina

Acleris cristana - photo P.Barnes.

January Moths at Ynys-hir

Seven macro and two micro species last night.  A few photos below but seem to have forgotten the Mottled Umber of which there were 10.
Pale Brindled Beauty 4, including one f.monacharia.
Spring Usher 11.
Chestnut 15.
Dark Chestnut 1.
Winter Moth 3.
Dotted Border 3.
Tortricodes alternella 14.
Acleris ferrugana 1 (m).

Acleris ferrugana

Dark Chestnut - Chestnut.

Dark Chestnut - not the best example as termen is worn.

Dotted Border

Pale Brindled Beauty

Pale Brindled Beauty

Spring Usher

Tortricodes alternella

Winter Moth

First Micro of 2020

Well it quite often is!  Tortricodes alternella.  Other species found last night; Spring Usher, Mottled Umber, Winter Moth, Chestnut.
Some absolutely terrible photos below... a combination of small compact camera, bad light and rubbish photographer, in other words me! 😂
Ina and Tony (Can't blame him for photos)

Chestnut

Mottled Umber

Spring Usher

Tortricodes alternella

Winter moths at Ynys-hir

We were tempted by a reasonable weather forecast and almost the longest night of the year to set a couple of actinic light traps in the woodland at the RSPB reserve. The result this morning was 186 moths of 6 species: Mottled Umber 107, Winter Moth 70, Scarce Umber 3, Pale Brindled Beauty 3 (the first of the season), Chestnut 2, December Moth 1.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all contributors and readers of the Blog.
   Tony and Ina

Mottled Umber

Just to show that you don’t even need a fancy moth trap to find something rather nice, here is a Mottled Umber which my wife found on the side window of her car this afternoon.

Winter Moth

3 Winter Moths were attracted to my light this evening.
In case you wonder about the photos, they were taken a) when it was still in a pot with a hedgehog place mat in the background and b) when it settled on this quarter’s copy of Broadleaf magazine.

Ynys-hir in November

We managed a couple of traps in the woodland last night, even though neither of us are firing on all cylinders at the moment.
Eleven species found and as usual at this time of year November Moth group were the most numerous with 66 counted.  Others; Scarce Umber 10, Feathered Thorn 34, Mottled Umber 12, Red-green Carpet 1, December Moth 17, Spruce Carpet 6, Chestnut 5, Winter Moth 5, Yellow-line Quaker 2 and Grey Pine Carpet 1.
It is easy at this time of year to miss the start of the Winter Moth, (especially if you are in a hurry) and count them in with Nov. agg. but size is a good indicator. The same with some plainer forms of Mottled Umber and Scarce Umber as the illustration in the field guide does give the impression S.U. is lighter in colour than it is here in Ceredigion.
Ina and Tony

December Moth

Spruce Carpet

Grey Pine Carpet

Scarce Umber

Scarce Umber

Winter Moth

Winter Moth