The moths came in twos last night, presumably to get out of the rain. Black Rustic (2), Angle Shades (2), LBAM (2), Silver Y (2 in the trap, 2 hiding on the fence). The odd one out was Ypsolopha ustella, which came alone. Before I went to bed, and before it rained, single Merveille du Jour and Red Sword-grass, probably the most interesting of the lot.
Peter Major had a brilliant recording session on Constitution Hill on the 7th of October - not only did he record a Death's-head Hawk-moth, Convolvulus Hawk-moth x 3 and a Scarce Bordered Straw as mentioned in Mike Bailey's post - but also a Box-tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) which is another County first. It will be interesting to see how quickly it will spread or whether this is a one-off .
All photos - Peter Major.
Having heard from Peter Major that he caught Scarce Bordered Straw, Death's Head and 3 Convolvus hawk-moths on Consti at the weekend, and having caught Vestal and Rusty-dot Pearl myself on Sunday night, I was encouraged to put the trap out again last night.
This produced my first Convolvulus hawk moth for Troedrhiw Seiri, plus a rare migrant from the tropics, Spoladea recurvalis, which has appeared for the first time in a number of English counties in recent days, and I guess could be a county record for Ceredigion?!
I recorded a Gem earlier this year - it is an immigrant and fairly uncommon in Ceredigion. Last night I recorded two more, which made me wonder if these were bred locally.
I also had both Chestnut and Dark Chestnut - Seeing them together makes it much easier to differentiate. The shape of each being a key pointer - especially the wing tips.
Our catch last night included another exceptional 2nd generation moth- this time a Marbled White Spot and this Turnip Moth.
Carolyn & Evan
 |
| Marbled White Spot |
 |
| Turnip Moth |
A walk along the coast path at Llanrhystud on Sunday. Best moth was this Vestal on the shingle, which was happy to pose on my finger. Also two Rusty-dot Pearl and a Silver Y.
There's been little to get excited about in the garden trap recently. Square-spot Rustic appears to be having a good year here (Aberystwyth), but only four last night, equalled by E. angustea. Otherwise Black Rustic (3), Feathered Ranunculus (2), Spruce Carpet (2), Pale Mottled Willow, and a Silver Y.
T. acroxantha appear to be trying to colonise the house. I think I understand where it gets its vernacular name.
 |
| Pale Mottled Willow |
 |
| Feathered Ranunculus |
 |
| Black Rustic |
 |
| Eudonia angustea |
 |
| Spruce Carpet |
 |
| Scalloped Hazel |
 |
| Green-brindled Crescent |
 |
| Red-line Quaker |
Just to let you know that Pete Skinner is not ignoring blogs on here but for some reason the blog has decided he should not comment on posts.
Normal service should be resumed as soon as possible.
Ina
Recent trappings here have produced very modest yields, in the 20s and 30s and last night was no exception with just 31 moths, 18 species.
But...
 |
| Clifden Nonpareil |
...near the bottom of the trap was my first Clifden Nonpareil. I had changed the trap light to one with eight, rather than four LEDs, along the lines of that developed by Gunnar Brehm, but I think the CN was luck rather than three extra UV LEDs.
 |
| Clifden Nonpareil and Feathered Gothic |
Others included Brindled Green (also new to me), Rosy Rustic, Light Emerald and a Rusty-dot Pearl. Sometimes, quality is preferable to quantity!
Friday's trap in a grassy field resulted in mostly Square-spot Rustics (c65 out of 95 moths), with Rusty-dot Pearl and Dark Sword-grass the migrant highlights. Last night, in the garden trap, Palpita Vitrealis and a Vestal arrived not long after dusk, and a Pinion-streaked Snout was my first this year.
..... and from our nearby oak woodland close to heathland we had what we believed could be a Neglected Rustic but are not completely happy. Any possible thoughts on this?
Carolyn and Evan
Trapping last night included our first autumnal moths - Centre-barred Sallow, Pink-barred Sallow and Autumnal Rustic together with Copper Underwing and surprisingly a second generation White Ermine.
Carolyn & Evan
 |
| Autumnal Rustic |
 |
| Centre-barred Sallow |
 |
| Pink-barred Sallow |
17/18mm Corded antennae, no collar marks, very pale uniform hindwing, faint marks reveal black outline to kidney and oval. So ??
The green tube has UV in the best range and I have always been pleased with its performance in my bucket trap, so much so I bought a bunch of them.
Stored away I forgot them and have just bought a new one from Paul Batty...now costing £12 plus postage.
My originals were £8 and if anyone would like one I have 2 for sale!
I migrate between Cardigan and Tregaron/Aberystwyth so could deliver.
I put my LED trap out last night, for a small yield, of which the most interesting was a pristine Bordered Beauty (and a couple of hornets).
 |
| Bordered Beauty |
However, I had recently noticed evidence of moths being eaten in a small barn, presumably by bats. So I check the detritus there from time to time.
 |
| Scarce Silver-lines |
Usually the remains are of Large Yellow Underwings, Dark Arches and Silver-Y, but last night's was a bit special, with parts of two Scarce Silver-lines. I guess they still count as new to the garden list, even deceased! Hopefully I may see a live one some day.
Decent catch last night amounting to 39 macro spp. and 140 individuals. Pick of the bunch was an Old Lady, 6 Black Arches and a couple of Oak Hook-tips.
I was very excited this morning to find a Red necked footman in the bottom of a full trap, a first for me. I remember Arthur Chater telling me that he had once walked into an emergence of a large number up near Black Covert Trawcoed some years ago and thus I have always wanted to see similar; however one will have to do! Rhos Pilbach.
The steamy warmth of last night prompted me to trap on a path above a rough grassy bank and adjacent to shrubbery. My reward was dealing with over 90 moths, 38 species. New to the garden were (I believe) a hyperactive Small Yellow Wave, Dingy Shell, and Red-necked Footman. Other nice moths were a Miller and two Waved Carpet.
 |
| Red-necked Footman |
 |
| Dingy Shell in typical pose |
 |
| Small Yellow Wave - sorry about poor phone photograph |
 |
| Waved Carpet |
The end of May and beginning of June has seen moth numbers pick up, thank goodness. There are quite a few species that I have missed out on this year but at 22:45 on 31st May I looked out of the window to check the trap before going to bed and got a surprise!
Not believing my eyes I had to unlock and go outside to get a better look. My eyes were not deceiving me, it was a Lime Hawk-moth the first in 75 years and only the second recorded in vc46.
My next treat was at Ynys-hir on the morning of the 3rd June. Pot that up for later was all that went through my head as there were quite a few individuals surrounding and on the outside of the trap. about an hour later...right, "What's this odd looking Wainscot" I ask myself. I've seen one of these before but what the devil is it called?... Thinking cap firmly on and daylight dawned, eventually. Not called Obscure Wainscot for nothing.
.JPG)
Not quite as exciting as Ina's Lime jobby but nice in a delicate sort of way!
Modest result from trapping last night, the sky remained pretty clear and there was a nearly full moon, so not surprising, perhaps. Highlight was a single White-spotted Pug, in company with Oak-tree and Brindled Pugs. Otherwise, two Shoulder Stripe, a Grey Birch and two Great Prominent. Total was just 12 moths of 10 species.
 |
| White-spotted Pug |
