Coming out of Hibernation

It’s not that warm, but warm enough in the sun for these two signs of spring. A very early Red Admiral catching some rays on the fence today. It’s not normally a species I see early in the year. Usually Brimstone or Small Tortoiseshell are first to put in an appearance, towards the end of Marc; so I’m not sure what this one was doing out and about today. The Brown-spot Flatbody moth is also quite early, but a few do come out in the early spring with a larger second generation in the summer. This one was disturbed while I was doing some gardening yesterday. I also saw the first bumble bees of the year this week.

#155 Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

#325 Brown-spot Flatbody (Agonopterix alstromeriana)

Box Tree Moth

This Box Tree Moth was the only moth that came to light this weekend. While a did manage to find a night with no rain, it was pretty windy, so combine that with the season and there wasn’t much about. Yesterday (Halloween) during a sunny spell I saw Rad Admiral butterfly and a Common Darter dragonfly in the garden; maybe the last of the year. To mark the coming winter the first fieldfares flew over and at night Tawny Owls are making a lot of noise.

The Autumn Shift

There’s a change-around in the moths with some autumn species coming to the fore, though there are still plenty of Large Yellow Underwings to catch. Beaded Chestnut and Lunar Underwing both fly in September-October, as does the Deep-brown Dart, a new not-so-common moth for the list. Whereas the Chestnut can appear any time during the winter from October onwards.

#707 Beaded Chestnut (Agrochola lychnidis)

#913 Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)

#912 Deep-brown Dart (Aporophyla lutulenta)

#685 Lunar Underwing (Omphaloscelis lunosa)

Frosted Orange & Red Underwing

Two very smart new moths in the trap this morning, among the other moths, which included now fewer than 37 Large Yellow Underwings. The caterpillars of Frosted Orange (#909) live inside the stems of plants such as thistle and foxglove. Red Underwing (#908) with a 7cm wingspan is one of UK’s larger moths, with a bright red underwing when its wings are open. Its larval food-plants are poplar and willow.

#909 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago)

#908 Red Underwing (Catocala nupta)

Harvest Moon Moths

With a near-full moon it wasn’t the best night for catching moths, but at least there was no rain - just heavy dew. A small haul of common moths (28 individuals or 12 species), with only the non-native Box-tree moth (an accidental import from SE Asia) adding a touch of the exotic.

#595 Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria)

#594 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum)

#825 Box-tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis)

September 1st Moths

It starts to get colder overnight, and there are fewer moths, especially fewer small moths, and less variety. More interesting moths today included a Chinese Character on the window by the trap and a Burnished Brass.

#876 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata)

#788 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#761 Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi)

Back from Holiday

After a 2-week break there are some different moths around. New species today were Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon) and Brindled Flat-body (Agonopterix arenella). The former is a migrant species that does not survive winter in UK; today I caught three of them. Orange Swift and Copper Underwing were the first of the year.

#904 Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#761 Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi)

#821 Copper Underwing (Amphipyra sp.)

#815 Orange Swift (Triodia sylvina)

#774 Garden Pebble (Evergestis forficalis)

#905 Brindled Flat-body (Agonopterix arenella)

#336 Elbow-stripe Grass Veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

Common Emerald (Hemithea aestivaria, #902)

Yet another rescue from the paddling pool; in this case a Common Emerald Moth. This one flies usually in June-July, so it’s a little late. It’s larvae are found in hawthorn, blackthorn, willow, hazel & oak - so no shortage of habitat locally.

900 Species in Low-key Style

Would have been nice to reach 900 with something spectacular, but the new moths today were Dingy Footman, looking like a large sunflower seed, and (an even dingier) Rusty-dot Pearl. Magpie Moth and Lesser Swallow Prominent were more handsome catches amongst 100+ moths of 42 species caught.

#900 Dingy Footman (Eilema griseola)

#901 Rusty-dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis)

#666 Magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata)

#667 Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma)

Weekend Moths: 7 Aug

A cooler night meant fewer moths than the previous week, but some of the highlights are here. White-spotted Pug ( Eupithecia tripunctaria) and Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata) were new species.

#691 Gold Triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)

#896 White-spotted Pug (Eupithecia tripunctaria)

#776 Currant Pug (Eupithecia assimilata)

#897 Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata)

#111 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

#256 Gold Argent (Argyresthia goedartella)

#696 Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria)

#850 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula)

Weekend's Micros

I don’t always catch a lot of micro moths, but this weekend (in addition to a lot of ermine moths, greys and grass moths) there were several interesting micros. Below a selection of them, including the five new species caught: Dingy Dowd, Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner, Grey Knot-horn, Spindle Knot-horn and Large Grey. These take the garden list several steps closer to 900, with now 252 species of moth.

#892 Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner (Cameraria ohridella)

#891 Dingy Dowd (Blastobasis adustella)

#894 Spindle Knot-horn (Nephopterix angustella)

#893 Grey Knot-horn (Acrobasis advenella)

#669 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis heparana)

#633 Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella)

#817 Rosy Tabby (Endotricha flammealis)

#895 Large Grey (Scoparia subfusca)

Weekend's Macros

A huge haul of moths on Saturday morning, with a selection of exotic & beautiful examples. 138 individuals of 55 species took me half the weekend to go through the photos. Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria) was the only new macro species, but there were some new micros too - more on those when I get time.

#890 Pebble Hook-tip (Drepana falcataria)

#673 Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius)

#245 Yellow-tail (Euproctis similis)

#546 Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

#808 August Thorn (Ennomos quercinaria)

#827 Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos alniaria)

#778 Cloaked Minor (Mesoligia furuncula)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#663 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)

Dingy Shears & Others

A few new species on the list this week. Most exciting thing was a Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) that stopped on the lavender for a while, but was too fast to get a decent photo. It was my first new butterfly species in three years. The hot weather early in the week certainly was good for butterflies. The Dingy Shears moth (Apterogenum ypsillon) appeared in the swimming pool and got fished out more or less unscathed - a species that so far didn’t get into my moth trap. Finally at least 2 meters high, I belatedly spotted a couple of Rosebay Willowherb plants (Chamaenerion angustifolium) that are established by the fence at the back of one of the borders.

#885 Dingy Shears (Apterogenum ypsillon)

#887 Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium)

Heatwave Moths Part II

Another warm and fine night for moths on Friday night, with 33 different spoecies caught, including five new ones for the list. Star of the show, for rarity value perhaps rather than looks, was a Waved Black (Parascotia fuliginaria), whose larvae live on rotten wood & fungi, and which is not often recording in Gliucestershire. Pale Prominent, looking much like a bunch of dead leaves was also a good catch.

#880 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina)

#881 Black Arches (Lymantria monacha)

#882 Maple Button (Acleris forsskaleana)

#883 Waved Black (Parascotia fuliginaria)

#879 Large Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#750 Oak Hook-tip (Watsonalla binaria)

#606 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

Heatwave Moths

On Saturday morning I had a bumper haul of 90 moths of 35 different types in and around the moth trap, thanks to a still, warm and cloudy night. This included no fewer than nine Elephant Hawk-moths and three new species: Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata), Large Tabby (Aglossa pinguinalis) and Clay (Mythimna ferrago). Seems the good weather is here to stay for a while, so it looks good for more mothing this week. A few moths below including the Tabby, Clay and three types of Ermine moth.

#658 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

#877 Large Tabby (Aglossa pinguinalis)

#878 Clay (Mythimna ferrago) (right)

#790 Bird-cherry Ermine (Yponomeuta evonymella)

#635 "Apple" Ermine (Yponomeuta sp.)

#811 Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)

Moth Trapping Wednesday

As well as the hawk-moths I posted earlier, there was a good selection of other moths including Brown Rustic and Hook-streak Grass Veneer, both of which were new ones for my garden. In total 52 moths of 25 different species. Some of the highlights below…

#774 Garden Pebble (Evergestis forficalis)

#200 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#875 Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus)

#596 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita)

#783 Miller (Acronicta leporina)

#611 Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi)

#731 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)

#873 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea)

Midsummer Hawk-moths

Three Elephant Hawk-moths in the moth trap and a fabulous Privet Hawk-moth on the fence nearby were the highlights from last night. Privet hawk-moth was a new species for the garden.

#872 Privet Hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

June Moths

The moth trap was quite well filled the other morning; moth numbers starting to build. The only new moth was a Clouded Brindle (Apamea epomidion), a single-generation moth that flies between May-July, and apparently does not come to light that frequently. Aside from this there was quite a nice selection of other moths, plus a shiny Whirligig Beetle (presumed Gyrinus substriatus). These beetles are usually found spinning around on the surface of ponds, but they do fly between water sources and can be attracted to light.

#868 Clouded Brindle (Apamea epomidion)

#247 Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha)

#763 Cypress Carpet (Thera cupressata)

#768 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)

#809 Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata)

#869 Whirligig Beetle (Gyrinus substriatus)

Jubilee Moths

It looks like it might be a bit wet for the rest of the weekend, but last night was dry and there were a few moths in the trap this morning. Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria) was a new species, while this Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) was a well marked individual. Nothing red, white & blue though!

#865 Common White Wave (Cabera pusaria)

#632 Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata)

#782 Green Pug (Pasiphila rectangulata)

Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae)

Another beautiful hawk-moth in the trap; this time a Lime Hawk-Moth (Mimas tiliae, #856), a new species for my garden. This moth is fairly common in Southern and Central England, flying in May-June. Its caterpillars live on lime trees, but also birch, alder and elm.