Wednesday 30 August 2017

Dart and Peacock

Two new moths for me in the garden trap last night:
Square-spot Dart (I think)
and Sharp-angled Peacock (I think)
The supporting cast included Narrow-winged Pug and (very worn) Rusty-dot Pearl.

Tuesday 29 August 2017

Garden Carpets at Llawrcwrt

There were two Garden Carpets in the trap a week ago. One appears to be f. thules, the northern form. Is this widely found in Ceredigion or is it an indication that climate warming has gone into reverse?

Scarce Bordered Straw

This migrant moth doesn't reach Ceredigion very often and was a first for me last night. 11 of the 18 county records are from Ynys-hir in the hot summer of 2006, but there are only 4 records since then.
Also had my first Sallow of the year, Autumn must be near!.
Tony
Scarce Bordered Straw

Sallow

Sunday 27 August 2017

Gold spot and micros

After a long trip abroad (with many as-yet-unidentified moths!), it was good to get the garden trap out again this weekend. Highlights were a Gold Spot, Canary-shouldered Thorn and Azalea Leaf-miner.
And something that I think I should recognise ... but don't:
The jagged cross-lines seem to point towards Ostrinia nubilalis.

At Nanteos yesterday, this more easily identified Nemapogon clematella:



Saturday 26 August 2017

Anomalous

We set two traps in our nearby mixed woodland last night.  A good catch included two significantly declining moths - Anomalous & Hedge Rustic - and a Barred Hook-tip no doubt linked to the nearby beech plantation.

Carolyn & Evan
Anomalous (m)

Anomalous (f)

Hedge Rustic
Barred Hook-tip

Friday 25 August 2017

Unusual Brimstone

I seem to remember some  correspondence on this but can't remember where. Anyone with any info out there?  All the Brimstones prior to this one have been remarkably consistent by moth standards!

Tuesday 22 August 2017

Bit of a cheek and swallow proms

In the pot were 2 swallow proms greater and lesser.  Sorry moths are not on same graph line but you can see the difference.  Thought it worth posting after our discussions at Ynys Hir.


Tuesday 15 August 2017

National Moth Night - 12th-14th October 2017 - IVY

Advance notice. 

Start looking out for local sheltered patches of ivy blossom, especially those which can be visited after dark with a torch. 
The theme for National Moth Night this year is ivy/ ivy blossom. Daytime searches or traps set on Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday
Looking first during the day is a good idea then you can avoid nocturnal visits to any stands of ivy which are covered with social wasps - they may also be there in numbers at night, indicating a nearby nest.....but there should be plenty of ivy around to investigate.

More information may be available on the Atropos website but it is undergoing some reconstruction at the moment so keep checking.

Atropos - National Moth Night

Monday 14 August 2017

Annulet and Orange Swift

A fair night on the coast last night produced 42 macro and 17 micro species.
Weighted heavily in favour of Large Y/u (69) as you would expect, closely followed by flame Shoulder or Flamethrowers as someone has recently named them... and I'm afraid it has stuck in my head! ;-)
Annulet 3 and Orange Swift 3 were the favourites.

Annulet

Antler

Brussels Lace

Common Plume

Orange Swift

Pinion-streaked Snout - or Concord flies again

Setacious Hebrew Character

Tawny Speckled Pug

Rusty-dot Pearl

Friday 11 August 2017

Small Argent and Sable

Presumably a second generation moth along the forestry track above Tyn Y Graig (Mynydd bach forest).  Its quite high, 371m at the trig point, where the track goes just below it and has edge vegetation of heather, bilberry, tormentil and bedstraws.
Its ironic that the gaps in the forestry now present glimpses of the habitat which would have been on the hills before the sheep plague; at the time we all thought afforestation was the end of the world.  I can't envisage what unexpectedly beneficial side effects there might be to the creation of vast sheep lawns.
 Pic below is of 'improved' grassland above Soar Y Mynydd where I saw 1x Sm A&S in early June on a remnant patch of bedstraw along the track to Tyn Cornel. You can't see the huge amount of subsidised fencing which now nets this moorland.

Wednesday 9 August 2017

Small Rufous and Small Wainscot


If I have identified it correctly, this is a moth I wasn't aware of. Tony's updated moths of Ceredigion  shows very few records in the county when I was trapping in the late1980's, though is is apparently more commonly recorded now. I don't know why I gave it a second look, I wonder how many I have recorded as Small Wainscot in the past, though seeing the two side by side they are not at all alike.

 
 

Monday 7 August 2017

E.nisella

Epinotia nisella as discussed below.
Despite 3 days in cold 'solitary' this moth would still not obey me and lie still for a pic.  I was a bit mystified by the strange shape of the wings like a miniature small angle shades and the brightness of the orangey area.  It has now made a bid for freedom so this is the best pic from...rather a lot!

Four-spotted Footman

New Quay garden trap 06/08/2017.

We had the fourth Four-spotted  Footman of the year last night. all have been males.



Also our second Blue-bordered Carpet -


and a first for the garden - Six-striped Rustic



Saturday 5 August 2017

Old Lady

We were pleased to find an Old Lady in our catch this morning - an infrequent visitor to moth traps.

Carolyn & Evan


Oak Eggar, Blue bordered carpet and a visitor from the bog



Very pleased to see these moths in the trap last night; just got out in time to block up the trap as the heavens opened.

Wednesday 2 August 2017

Three micros from the garden

Alucita hexadactyla - I will be keeping a close eye on my Honeysuckle...the one in my last garden never managed a good show of blooms...there was however about 100 of these hiding away in the garage when I moved!



Blastobasis adustella - very common moth that I never seem to photograph...the quality of these pictures says it all!



Bucculatix nigricomella - my cultivation of Ox-eye Daisy is paying off!



Tuesday 1 August 2017

Grey Dagger - Cross Inn, Llanon

On pear tree in pot on patio.






Epinotia nisella

Firstly I must apologise for the bad pictures.
I wanted to illustrate this colour of E.nisella which is not shown in the Sterling, Parsons Field Guide.
Recent DNA bar-codes of different colour forms show slight but consistent differences between the Poplar feeding group (now Epinotia cinereana)  and the Willow feeding group (Epinotia nisella). Differences in both male and female genitalia have been found.
(Hancock, Bland, 2015)

From the latest A.B.H. checklist - "Prior to 2012 records of E nisella may include E. cinereana.  E. cinereana has now been recognised as distinct from E. nisella: (Mutanen et al., 2012b)"

New ABH numbers are 49.255 E.nisella and 49.256 E.cinereana.

The photo below is of Epinotia nisella (Willow feeder).  I hope this helps with anyone struggling with a brown Tortrix moth with a black/dark brown patch but this is still a variable moth!



Cors Fochno

The weather was rather wet when we went to check the traps this morning. The numbers were a bit disappointing but we did have 2 Rosy Marsh Moth. Of the other 20 macro species the most numerous were True Lover's Knot and Large Yellow Underwing. Amongst the rest were Canary-shouldered Thorn, Yellow-barred Brindle, Scarce Footman, Pinion-streaked Snout, Garden Tiger, Chevron, Willow Beauty, Coxcomb Prominent, and Barred Rivulet.
Tony & Ina
Barred Rivulet


Rosy Marsh Moth


Rosy Marsh Moth