Barrett's MC update

I thought I would post the dissection of Sarah's recent Barrett's Marbled Coronet that she sent to me for confirmation.  It can also now be viewed on the Moth Dissection website.  Just for interest, producing one image started off with me taking 467 images through my compound microscope, creating a file of 1.82GB.  Using focus stacking software I produced 13 focused images from the 467 which where then patched together using Photoshop to create a single image.  This was 21.9MB in size.  The image was cleaned up and the background shade standardised and finally reduced to around 4.5MB for upload onto the Moth Dissection Website. Took just over an hour to produce.  Dissections are not often posted, but they can be really strikingly beautiful in themselves.  Thanks to Sarah for giving me the opportunity to produce this image, which hopefully will help others in the future. Peter Hall

 

Talybont Garden

Our garden has been pretty poor for mothing lately, whether this is coincidence or not the decline seemed to coincide with the installation of LED street lights.
Last night was good although lots of species we have had at this time of year previously, were missing from the list.
Forty macro species and ten micros were most welcome including three near perfect Swallow-tailed, they soon lose their tails so one can only assume they have recently emerged.
Celypha striana has been very common this year.
I photographed a rather well marked H&D - one among fifty- but the photo does not do it justice. The Shark is a rare visitor to the garden and a Dot Moth just because I like em!
Ina & Tony

Brimstone Moth

Celypha striana

Garden Tiger

Green Arches

Green Silver-lines

Heart & Dart

True Lover's Knot

Dot Moth

Shark

Swallow-tailed Moth

The bright lights of Penglais

Having read the weather forecast, I decided not to put a trap out last night. Instead, I walked round the area this morning looking for moths attracted by the lights. My haul included 11 macros, with first-for-year Common Emerald, Single-dotted Wave, Small Bloodvein and Dingy Footman; 7 micros included my first Crambus perlella for the year. On the way home, I dislodged my first Tachystola acroxantha and an as-yet-unidentified micro (best guess so far is the bagworm Diplodoma laichartingella, but it doesn't look quite right) from a hawthorn bush.

Tachystola acroxantha

FWL 4-5mm

This Eyed Hawk-moth at Cross Inn was a lifer for me last night.

White Colon and Beautiful Yellow Underwing

Not as good a night on the dunes as could have been expected but we had quality rather than quantity.
A small selection named in the captions below. Heart and Club head-on shot for those struggling with the difference between this and Heart and Dart.

Beautiful Y/u

Dark Sword-grass

Eucosma campoliliana

Heart and Club - Head

Heart and Club

Light Arches

Striped Wainscot

White Colon

Small Argent & Sable in Aberystwyth

Pleasantly suprised to find a Small Argent & Sable in the garden trap this morning - where did that come from? Other firsts for the garden were Dusky Brocade, Argyresthia retinella, Plodia interpunctella (Indian Meal Moth - should I be worried?) and possible Acrobasis consociella. Firsts for the year were Sandy Carpet, Purple Bar, Dot Moth, Phycitodes binaevella (probably) and Argyresthia cupressella. A Broom Moth made a welcome appearance - the first for almost two years. Please send Buff-tips!

Dusky Brocade

Argyresthia retinella

Indian Meal Moth

Acrobasis consociella?

Dot Moth

New to me at Cross Inn last night was this Dot Moth. In the bedroom last night we had a female Ghost! This morning a male was in the trap. 2 Buff Arches were also a new species for me. A Large Yellow Underwing was the first I have had this year.

Sallow Kitten et al

Two traps set in our nearby oak woodland produced 51 macro and 12 micro species.  The high spots for us were our first ever Sallow Kitten, July Belle & Dingy Shell.  It was certainly the night for Buff-tip and Double Line which both ran into double figures.

Carolyn & Evan

Sallow Kitten

July Belle

 

Dingy Shell

Northern Rustic and friends at Wallog

We ran 3 Heath traps at Wallog last night and recorded 52 macro and 17 micro species. The star for me was a Northern Rustic (in fact there were 3 of them). A moth I have never caught before (although Ina used to get them occasionally in her garden in Lancashire). There are 28 county records in total with 14 of those since 2000. It was not a new species for Wallog as Mike Bailey recorded one there in 2002. Also in the catch were: Bordered White, Miller, Lime-speck Pug, Marbled Coronet, Spectacle, Ingrailed Clay, Brussels Lace, Purple Bar, Clay Triple-lines, Small Seraphim, and Lead Belle.


Bordered White

Ingrailed Clay



Lime-speck Pug

Marbled Coronet

Northern Rustic

Tony & Ina

Ghost Moth

Male & Female (I hope!)

Rhos Glendenys 19Jun

Rhos Glendenys during the day produced 5 spot burnet, Blood-vein, Silver-ground Carpet & Scarlet Tiger. In addition there were numerous grasshoppers and crickets, butterflies - Meadow brown, Ringlet and Skipper, and several orchids....

Aberystwyth miscellany

New for the garden trap this week was Broken-barred Carpet, and first-for-year Brussels Lace, Wormwood Pug, Ingrailed Clay, Purple Clay, Uncertain, Tawny Shears, Dark Arches, Straw Dot, Brindled Plume, and this one that I'm not sure about ...

I've found the source of my Anania crocealis (two trapped last night) - a neighbour's fleabane is full of holes.

To follow up on Sarah's post, my nearest Burnet moths are also out now, and i would have guessed decreta. All of  the ones I saw today had fused spots, unlike in previous years.

New Quay Geometrids

Some less common Geometrids in the garden this week :-

Little Emerald?

Cloaked Carpet

Waved Carpet?

Barred yellow

Small Yellow Wave

Small Clouded Brindle

This has been identified, not by me, as a Small Clouded Brindle. I had the book open at the right place, but didn't pick it out. I'd not heard of the moth, let alone seen one. As it is uncommon in Ceredigion, I post the picture. It is a pretty nondescript  and I would have thought easily overlooked.

Cross Inn, Llanon

Please can somebody help me I'd this moth?

Last night I had 3 Elephant Hawkmoths. Why can't they all be so easy to identify!

Scallop Shell

Despite being noted as quite common, this is only the second I have seen in recent years. It was with the usual suspects in the trap this morning

Beautiful Carpet

Another wet night with two traps set in a nearby mixed woodland produced a selection of attractive carpets and our first Small Fan-foot of this year.

Carolyn & Evan

Beautiful Carpet

Purple Bar

Waved Carpet

Northern Spinach

Small Fan-foot