More warm weather moths...

I left out the garden traps again last night (31/5) for the third consecutive night and, again, there was a different mix of moths with species such as small seraphim, rustic shoulder-knot, red-necked footman, beautiful snout, marbled white-spot, green arches, figure of eighty, miller and beautiful snout all new for the year. There were also a different selection of micros though the total number of species was similar to the previous two nights ie c 35-40 species. Nothing particularly exciting, but a decent variety and worthwhile trapping. As remarked previously, you can get different moths on `runs` of consecutive trapping sessions on warm nights when moths disperse.

                                                           Above: beautiful snout.

                                                               Above: Figure of eighty.

Above: if only all moths were numbered so as to aid identification - the `figure of 80` on the forewing of the figure of eighty.

Several of the moth species will have wandered from the adjacent large woodland block (Stradey Woods) - for example, red-necked footman, beautiful snout and the figure of eighty. The nearest bilberry (the food-plant of beautiful snout) is in a deep `cwm`at the far NW end of the afore-mentioned woodland whilst the figure of eighty probable originates from tall poplars on the nearer side of the woods.

I`ll temporarily include below - it`s not my photo, so I`ll delete it after about a day - a winter-time aerial photo of the location of my house, which is marked by `x` towards the right-hand side of the photo (you`ll have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see the `x`). It`s at the very edge of the top-right woodland block. The eastern edge of Stradey Woods can be seen (it is much more extensive than shown), as well as nearby suburbia with all its competing lights. The bilberry area mentioned in the paragraph above is outside the area shown by the photo. The coastline is about 1/2 mile to the south, whereas previously at Pwll I was right on the coast with all the many `moth benefits` that brought.

Friday Night at Maenol

Quite a nice selection of moths came to my MV on Monday night, nothing spectacular but they included a couple of species that I haven't seen for some time, notably Thistle Ermine and Treble Bar:

Also worthy of mention were Oblique Carpet, and the first Double Dart of the year:

Micros included a spectacular Coleophora sp., I've had these metallic types before, apparently there are five or six of them and it's so frustrating not to be able to name them!  I suspect that this one is probably C.deauratella or C.mayrella:

Two species of Notocelia turned up; the yellow-nosed N.cynosbatella:

and what I believe to be N.trimaculana:

I'm unable to comment on other posts at the moment, but Adam, if you see this and have had no help with your two micros yet, can I suggest Gracillaria syringella for the top one, and Gypsonoma dealbana for the other (possibly!).

Another (not quite so) early start...

I had left the garden traps out from the previous night, as setting up the traps and sorting out the extension cables etc can be a bit of a palaver at times and last night (30/5) was a repeat performance weather-wise (it was again very warm overnight), but it was n`t a repeat performance moth-wise. As I`ve noticed before, the moth-mix caught can vary on consecutive nights with moths not being re-trapped. It was thus so last night with a nice varied assemblage (c 40+ species or so) that may well have included wanderers from adjacent mixed woodland.
This morning I did n`t get up so early - a more manageable 5.00am start after a good night`s sleep. I`ll probably re-trap tonight - `make hay...`, as they say.
The `nice` mix included alder moth, square spot, puss moth, clay triple lines, privet hawk-moth, eyed hawk-moth, orange footman, yellow-barred brindles, coronet, tawny-barred angle, Freyer`s pugs and waved carpets amongst the macros.

                                                              Above: waved carpet.

There was one micro-moth of particular interest - Teleiodes luculella, an oak-dependent species. Photo below:

                            Above: not uncommon, but always colourful! - Eulia ministrana.

Hot nights and early starts

As we approach the mid-summer period, getting up very early to check the traps before the birds get there first becomes more onerous and tiring. I arose at c 4.30 am this morning (I was awake earlier) to check the two garden traps (one MV, the other mains actinic) set out last night (29/5). There was a decent catch awaiting me, but nothing really exciting to deserve an impromptu `Highland fling` to wake the neighbours. There were about 35+ species in total. I shall re-trap tonight, as the really hot nights have the potential to encourage moths to wander and disperse away from their normal habitats.

Above: shark, with the 2nd close-up pic showing the rear of the hind-wing. Note that the fringe does not have a continuation of the dark streaks (which a chamomile shark would have).

Often, post the trap-sorting session, I come across moths that I had missed earlier, perhaps resting on walls, fences and the like. The following moth I did n`t see until late afternoon when I watered a large pot plant near and below the position of the (flat) roof-top actinic. It was a large, well-marked pug that, at first glance, looked like a less showy form of netted pug - but it was not that desirable species.

                                                  Above: It was a handsome Freyer`s pug.

An attractive, golden-metallic tortricid that I`ve caught before (both at Pwll and at my present garden) is Ptycholoma lecheana. I just managed to get a shot of this male as it made its escape:

Scarlet tiger

Scarlet tiger moth on a neighbour's wisteria in Cilycwm. Nice and fresh. Isabel

.

Micro help needed

A moderate trap produced two micros that had me puzzling for an hour or so without a positive conclusion. I'd be grateful for any id help!

I also found both elephants:

And a life - Flame Carpet.

 

Have I missed something?

The 22 watt actinic in the Robinson trap does not attract too many moths - just 38 in total, but as this comprised 28 species, I was not totally disheartened. I am, however, in something of a quandary, for I have found a moth that looks easy to identify, but that is not listed in the Carms_summary_2016 and furthermore, is not shown for the County in the recently published Atlas of Britain and Ireland's Larger Moths. I would be most grateful for comments - particularly as to the ID of the moth:

I have to say that this looks rather like Dotted Rustic to me. An excellent picture of this species is to be found in Chris Manley's British Moths second edition.

A much more common moth, but a first for me, was the Cork Moth (Nemapogon cloacella) - three of which were flying about the kitchen, and others were outside.