Saturday 29 August 2020

NOT the Convolvulus H/m

 Well I said it was cold, but... The rest of the trap this morning!   Ina


2 Flounced Rustic and 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character

Dichrorampha acuminatana

Agriphila geniculea

Convolvulus Hawk-moth

 Much colder night in the garden than of late last night.  Sum total of moths, 2 x Flounced Rustic, 1 x Setaceous Hebrew Character, 1x Agriphila geniculea and this fella!

Ina and tony



Thursday 27 August 2020

Oak Nycteoline

 We found this small moth (fl13mm) posing like a micro moth on the cable of one of the traps we set in our neighbour's woodland last night.  It later opened up when we noticed the slightly concave leading edge and prominent palps.  After some searching we decided this had to be one of the many forms of the Oak Nycteoline.  Our catch also included Hedge Rustic and Flounced Rustic in double figures, six more Anomalous, Autumnal Rustic and a Feathered Gothic.

Carolyn & Evan

Oak Nycteoline (unopened)

Oak Nycteoline (opened)

Autumnal Rustic

Anomalous

Feathered Gothic


Few moths in the trap last night at Llawrcwrt, but the first Feathered Gothic of the year put in an appearance.

Monday 24 August 2020

Last night's moths

 We ran an MV light in some mixed woodland and caught just 40 macros and 7 micros, many of them in rather battered condition (result of storm Ellen?). Most numerous were Common Marbled Carpet, Rosy Footman and Brimstone. We had 4 different Thorns: Early, Dusky, August and September.

Tony and Ina

Clay Triple-lines

Magpie Moth

Bordered Beauty

Centre-barred Sallow

August Thorn


Thursday 20 August 2020

Anomalous

 We found this stray moth in our conservatory this morning a day after emptying the trap from our neighbour's woodland.  We last caught an Anomalous three years ago in the same woods.  It defied all attempts for a classical photoshoot.

Carolyn & Evan



Sunday 16 August 2020

Hedge Rustic

 Another good night included our first Hedge Rustic for this year and this very attractive Large Ear, but we are not allowed to call it this without dissection.

Carolyn & Evan

Hedge Rustic

Large Ear (Amphipoea agg.)

Black-banded plus..

 A small selection from C80 species on the coast on Friday night.  Although not as warm as the nights have been lately we recorded a lot of old favourites too.  Flounced Rustic, Black Arches, Dingy Footman and of course Large Yellow Underwings were the most numerous.

August Thorn

Black-banded

Brussels Lace

Heart & Dart. A little late for the party!
Orange Swift


Treble-bar



Small fan- footed waves


 The top one is the first one I have caught that doesn't look like the one below!  Both in good condition and colours true to life.

Saturday 15 August 2020

Rosy Footman






This was a nice surprise in the trap this morning. It's the first I remember seeing and possibly a first for Llawrcwrt.

Thursday 13 August 2020

Night of the Drepanidae

 A very warm night's trapping in our neighbour's woodland produced a varied haul including these four second generation Drepanidae.

Carolyn & Evan 


Barred Hook-tip

Pebble Hook-tip

Oak Hook-tip

Chinese Character

More dispersal

More new species for the garden on Tuesday night: Double Kidney, Magpie, Pandemis cinnamomeana and Catoptria margaritella. Further evidence of movement was a Pearly Underwing (only my second here) and a Water Veneer. Small Dusty Wave, on the other hand, is apparently an Aberystwyth speciality.





Tuesday 11 August 2020

Antler

 I also caught some Antlers on Saturday night; the pattern of those I have caught over the years has been remarkably consistent until this one.  A similar one has been posted on Moths FB page as an aberration.

I can see the longitudinal stripes are accentuated along the veins by wear but the other markings are 'blobby' lacking the usual crispness.


Monday 10 August 2020

Palpita-tions

Antler's are scarce in my garden (less than annual), so I was pleasantly surprised to catch sixteen of them last night. Even better, a Palpita vitrealis came to the trap just after dark.



Sunday 9 August 2020

Talybont moths

 As well as the Pretty Chalk Carpet we had a few others which we don't see very often, especially in our garden.

Tony and Ina

Mr. and Mrs. Black Arches

Confused

Crescent Dart

Haworth's Minor


Pretty Chalk Carpet

 The 4th Ceredigion record of Melanthia procellata in the garden trap this morning.  Totally out of habitat but not on it's own in that respect as the warm night has encouraged dispersal of a few species. We haven't finished counting yet!

Ina and Tony


Saturday 8 August 2020

Meal Moth

 We found this attractive Meal Moth (Pyralis farinalis) in our kitchen this morning.  We suspect it is related to our bulk Red Cross delivery of bread flour from our family during lockdown!  We were challenged initially because of its size and upturned abdomen simulating a male Geometer. 

Carolyn & Evan


Beautiful China-mark


I found this little beauty apparently dead and stuck on the wall in a dim corner of a bedroom. I wasn't very pleased with this photo, but when I wnt back to try again it had gone. Happily not quite as dead as I had thought, though try as I could I have failed to find it again.

Acrobasis advenella

 Catching numbers of these recently, quite pretty, big enough to see and with a name I can almost remember!

Wednesday 5 August 2020

Alder Moth Larva

We found this Alder Moth larva crossing our road this afternoon and stopped the traffic to photograph it.

Evan & Carolyn

Monday 3 August 2020

Little visitor to the garden

Now I know lots of you are not set alight by micros but to me this was the highlight of the catch last night.
Hardly a big moth being c4mm from the top of his hair-do to the fringe of his wings, easily missed in the bottom of a trap among the midges.  Luckily Tony spotted this one and I am phoning the opticians later!!
Ladies and gentlemen I give you...Bucculatrix nigricomella.