Sprawler

I've been trapping on as many nights as possible over the last fortnight, catching the usual autumn species, December Moths, Satellite, lots of Red Sword-grass, November Moths by the score, Feathered Thorns,  Green Brindled Crescents, etc, but  very few Mottled Umber so far.
I popped the trap out again last night and amongst the very small catch was a Sprawler, such a lovely moth. I must, I thought, put a pic on the blog.  I can't use my Ipad to post pics - (computer say No), so use the PC. We have a very new PC..... its taken nearly an hour to log back on here having fought passwords, Google Blogger, more passwords. default accounts and a strong desire to chuck everything out of the window, so please enjoy these blood, sweat and tears pictures!!!!!!!

The Last Two Nights

I've been trying out a new trap, 20W mains actinic, small white Skinner-type box.  Very easy to set up, the plug goes through the letter box to a socket in the hall.  A handful of common seasonal species: Green-brindled Crescent and November Moth types the commonest, Pine Carpet, Spruce Carpet, Feathered Thorn, a few Green- and Red-line Quakers, Red-green Carpet, and several FFY Lunar Underwings.

Not very exciting, but I keep trying!  Not tonight though, very soggy, and the next few days don't sound too promising either.

From a spinning on willow...

This Acleris hastiana emerged recently from a larval spinning found on Creeping Willow at Pembrey Forest in August. A smart form of one of our most variable moths, which breeds commonly on a range of willow species. Always nice to see though.

Wood Store Plume

It seems that my new wood store might produce the occasional moth for me, this one flew out and landed on the wall close by.  Fortunately it stayed put long enough for me to fetch the camera.

I believe that it's a Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla)

Rusty-dot pearl

For what it`s worth, a rusty-dot pearl was on the wall near my front door this morning (9/10), and very obvious against a white background.

Last night`s trap...

I made a token gesture of putting a single mains actinic trap out last night (Friday 4/10) and exactly a dozen species of autumn moths were present this morning, including my first Blair`s shoulder- knot of the season.

                                                      Above: Blair`s shoulder-knot.

It was Tischeria...

I`ve only now (Saturday) had a chance to check the potential Tischeria ekebladella that I collected from two sites (the Sawdde Gorge at Pont-ar-llechau and Garnant in the Amman Valley) on Wednesday`s (2/10) leaf-mining outing - see my preceding blog below.

I`m happy to say, that after checking the Pont-ar-llechau larva, it seems to be Tischeria ekebladella (rather than the alternative sawfly`s Profenusa pygmaea dissimilar larva). The Garnant larva also matched Tischeria perfectly. So, it is pleasing to have a personal new moth and to also add two sites for this species in the county.

Above: top - my specimen from Pont-ar-llechau and, bottom, the larva from the UKflymines website. Below is the larva of Profenusa pygmaea from the British Leafminers website.