The conditions are too good, so I was trapping again last night; this time at home. There were lots of great moths (134 moths of 37 species), including no less than 8 Elephant Hawk Moths and 5 Ruby Tigers. Two new species. Bordered Beauty (Epione repandaria) and Many-plumed Moth (Alucita hexadactyla), and some others that I didn’t feature yet this season are pictured below.
Another warm night, this time trapping in the garden of some local friends. Didn’t catch as many moths as maybe I expected, but still a good variety and plenty of new ones for this year. Brown-line Bright-eye is not one that I’ve caught before.
As well as the hawk moths and other interesting macros, the moth trap attracted a wide supporting cast of smaller moths: pugs, grass moths, greys and other micros. Here is a selection of the 44 species I was able to identify.
UK’s mini-heatwave means there’s plenty of moths. There were twenty-five Scarlet Tigers in and around the moth trap this morning, and three types of hawk-moth: Elephant, Small Elephant and Poplar.
A couple of new moths among a big haul of moths this morning. Lobster Moth, so named because of its very ugly crustacean-like caterpillars, is a fairly large woodland species found around beech & birch trees. Buff Aches is a very handsome moth whose caterpillars can be found on brambles. Both species fly in one generation around mid-summer.
Taking advantage of a lovely warm, still and dry evening, I caught a good selection of moths, including my first Elephant Hank-moths of the year.
Not an ideal night for trapping, as it was a bit windy, but more moths again - 51 moths of 30 species, including several new ones for the year. Swallow-tailed Moth, The Miller and Common Carpet are not ones I catch very often.
A fairly typical selection of moths for the end of May. 17 moths of 15 species recorded, which is average for the time of year.
Been busy, so a small delay adding some photos from last week. These are fairly typical moths for May-June. plus the first Cockchafer of the year.
After a mini heatwave for the time of year. I put out my moth trap on one of the colder evenings and din’t catch much. But one of the few was a Mullein Moth (Cucullia verbasci), a moth that files in one generation in April-May. Its conspicuously-marked caterpillars are found on Buddleia (and of course, Mullein).
Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta) is the most frequently caught moth in this season, with a second generation in Aug-Sept. This week I caught several - all males, like the one pictured (females are quite differently coloured)..
Daytime temperature bis up to 20 Celsius, but the nights are clear and still quite cold at night, even a touch of frost some mornings. It’s also nearly full moon, so there are not too many moths flying yet. These though are a pretty trio, and harbinger of more to come as Spring draws on.
After some warmer days, this was the first outing in 2025 for my moth trap, catching some typical moths for mid-March. All of these moths fly for a couple of months in a single generation in the early Spring.
Moths are getting a bit thin on the ground, but normally I’s expect more than just a single Light Brown Apple Moth by the trap in the morning. There were a lot of gnats attracted to the light thpough, including Winter Gnats and a Sylvicola species, which I believe is Window Gnat. The latter turns out to be a new species for the garden, as previously I only noticed Clear-tipped Window Gnat (Sylvicola punctatus), whereas last night’s has grey wing-tips if you look close enough. This is a common species though, that can be found all year round.
Back from a short trip to Frejus in the South of France, where I came across this magnificent caterpillar in the garden. Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) caterpillars start out green, then morph to this orange/black form, before pupating, then turning into a particularly spectacular hawk moth. There is a ton of Oleander (Laurier Rose) in the garden and this was disturbed by pruning. The leaves of Oleander are poisonous, but these caterpillars can consume it okay. Adult Oleander Hawk-moths are rare Autumn vagrants to the UK and the larvae are not recorded here. The French name for the moth is Le Sphinx du Laurier-rose.
As we had a nice dry night on Friday, I was able to put out the moth trap. I caught nine species, including this trio - all of them fairly typical for the time of year. Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) flies during Aug-Sept, it’s larvae live inside the stems of thistle plants. Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri) is found around Cypress trees and flies a bit later - Oct-Nov. It is a non-native species first recorded in UK in 1951, but now widespread in gardens across most of England. Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis) flies from July-September; its larvae are found on grain of cereal crops, including those that have been harvested.
These moths rest with their wings rolled up so they look at first glance like craneflies/ Disturbed while I was gardening at the weekend, this is a Common Plume. They can be found all year round, but Autumn seems when they are most plentiful. The larval food-plant for this species is Bindweed.
Out of 38 moths this morning, 19 were Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) - fairly typical for the season. These are common Autumn moths, colloquially known as “blunderwings” as they fly off clumsily when disturbed from their daytime resting spots. The sandy-coloured Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) is a similar size also with a yellow hind-wing, but this time with a broader black band around the margin. Of the other moths in and around the moth trap nine were Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum).
These are from last weekend - it’s been a busy week. Quite a varied catch of fairly typical late summer moths. Elbow-striped Grass Veneer or Chevron Grass-moth as it seems to be called too, is a grassland species I don’t catch every year. A shiny Burnished Brass and a couple of Nutmegs were nice seasonal catches.
This nicely marked Angle Shades moth was resting up in the greenhouse. Angle Shades moths fly throughout the summer from May-October, with the population supplemented by migrants from the continent. The caterpillars eat a variety of plants including nettles, docks and brambles.
Here’s a mixed bag of other moths and insects caught last week. At this time there is a large variety of creatures on the wing at night.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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