Checking the moth traps on Cors Fochno this morning was not a particularly pleasant experience with the heavy drizzle and swarms of biting midges, but we had some interesting moths.
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| Heath rustic |
This locally occurring moth feeds on heather which is abundant on the bog. The first county record was in 1970 and it was commonly found on Cors Caron, but not Cors Fochno at that time.
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| Round-winged muslin |
This is another local species feeding on lichens and mosses. It was reported as abundant on Cors Fochno in 1949 and 1950 but only a singleton was recorded in 1967. According to Adrian Fowles work, there were no more records on the bog, despite regular trapping (upto 1980's).
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| Broad-bordered yellow underwing |
This apparently common moth is not recorded very often in the county. According to Fowles it was widely reported in the 1950's and 1960's, but only in small numbers. In the 1970's and early 80's there was only one record.
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| Barred hook-tip |
This is a rare moth for the county but the third we have seen this year from 3 different locations. It is reported to feed on Beech but we don't know where the nearest beech is to the bog.
These were in with 162 moths of 34 species from 2 15W actinic traps. There were lots of Flame shoulder, Heath rustic, Chevron, Canary-shouldered thorn and Large yellow underwing. Also Sallow, Drinker, Dark arches, Dingy footman, Pinion-streaked snout, Marsh oblique-barred, Ear sp, Setaceous Hebrew character, Lesser yellow underwing, Square spot rustic, July highflyer, Rosy footman, Gold spot, Autumnal rustic, and Dark sword-grass.
I've found both Round-winged muslin and Heath rustic to be regular visitors to light at Cors fochno over the last 20 years, and I suspect any paucity of records in previous times may reflect patchy recording effort (other than during the flight period of rosy marsh), rather than significant population changes.
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