Howick, Northumberland

Powdered Quaker

Hello All, 

My year total so far is 20 sp not counting the Agonopterix sp. I am lumping both heracliana and ciliella from now on, as they cannot be reliably separated without gen det.

Code	Taxon	Vernacular	Individuals
	Agonopterix sp.	Agonopterix species	7
663	Diurnea fagella		2
688	Agonopterix heracliana		31
701	Agonopterix ocellana		1
1025	Tortricodes alternella		1
1663	Alsophila aescularia	March Moth	12
1775	Colostygia multistrigaria	Mottled Grey	4
1926	Phigalia pilosaria	Pale Brindled Beauty	18
1934	Agriopis marginaria	Dotted Border	3
1935	Erannis defoliaria	Mottled Umber	1
2139	Cerastis rubricosa	Red Chestnut	26
2179	Panolis flammea	Pine Beauty	4
2182	Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker	10
2186	Orthosia gracilis	Powdered Quaker	1
2187	Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	158
2188	Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	35
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	229
2243	Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	19
2256	Eupsilia transversa	Satellite	4
2258	Conistra vaccinii	Chestnut	13
2259	Conistra ligula	Dark Chestnut	4

I'm glad to see the Orthosias are back on form after a poor year in 2013. My only new species so far this year is  Agonopterix ocellana. I wonder what else could turn up?

Please see my blogs for more info - 

The Orthosia Enthusiast

From the Notebook

Good Luck...

Stewart

Knot Grass

Hi

I'm in my first year of Mothing so nothing to compare against, however i have purchased a Skinner for the garden and we shall see how it goes. Up to 12 for the year so far but as i understand it this Knot Grass is early. In the trap overnight from Friday 29th March

Rgds Lee

Hi - further to comments, i've added a couple more shots, i'm pretty sure its a Knot Grass (or i've just made a monkey out myself in my first post but i'm here to learn) - all comments welcome - thanks Lee.

It's All Finally Kicking Off In Oxford

Up until a couple of days ago it's been very slow here in my central Oxford garden to say the least. My year list total was languishing on a lowly 7 species and when I did manage to catch anything in the trap it was always variations on the basic four spring moths of Early Grey, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab and Hebrew Character. Suddenly however on Saturday as the warm weather finally reappeared it all kicked off. I went from a year list best catch total of just 7 moths all the way up to the dizzying heights of 22 and then last night 27 moths. Not great compared to some of the magnificent catches reported here but for an urban garden with a current garden list total of around 250 it's not at all bad for this time of year. 

The big change was the sudden appearance of Double-striped Pugs and I finally started to get some micros in the form of Common and Beautiful Plume as well as a White-shouldered House Moth. The highlight however has been a couple of new garden ticks with a (rather battered) Herald and a Small Quaker both finally making it on to my paltry garden list.

Brindled Pug from a couple of weeks ago was another NFG moth

The suddenly ubiquitous Double-striped Pug

Early Thorn

A battered Herald (NFG)

A worn Small Quaker (also NFG)

As this is my first posting this year I'll treat you to my entire year list in all it's glory. My target for the year is to beat 250. Looking back to last year's notes I realise that I'm already ahead of last year when because of the poor early spring weather I didn't even start putting the trap out until a couple of weeks from now.

01/01/2014    Clothes Moth
18/03/2014    Clouded Drab
18/03/2014    Hebrew Character
18/03/2014    Brindled Pug
19/03/2014    Common Quaker
19/03/2014    Early Grey
29/03/2014    Scarlet Tiger Moth (larva)
30/03/2014    Double-striped Pug
30/03/2014    Common Plume
30/03/2014    White-shouldered House Moth
30/03/2014    Beautiful Plume
31/03/2014    Early Thorn
31/03/2014    Herald
31/03/2014    Small Quaker

Butterflies:
Brimstone
Peacock

Whetstone Leics. Update

I've had the traps out again over the last couple of nights, and weather looks suitable for a fair run over the next week. Numbers and diversity starting to increase, with 41 of 10sp. on Friday night and 61 of 15sp. last night. Garden leps yearlist up to 31 now, with the additions since last update being:

	Taxon	Vernacular	Earliest
24	Anticlea badiata	Shoulder Stripe	17/03/2014
25	Lyonetia clerkella	Apple Leaf Miner	17/03/2014
26	Amblyptilia acanthadactyla		28/03/2014
27	Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn	29/03/2014
28	Parornix anglicella		29/03/2014
29	Caloptilia stigmatella		29/03/2014
30	Orthosia munda	Twin-spotted Quaker	29/03/2014
31	Epermenia chaerophyllella		29/03/2014

Epermenia chaerophyllella

Hebrew Character

A couple more in Bucks.

Put the trap out again last night, as the weather was so clement. I think one or two of the moths may have been the same individuals from the previous night, but not all, as there were two new species for my Garden Year List:

17. Double-striped Pug
18. Streamer

Streamer

New micro #20

A good number of moths last night, over 50, of 13 sps
Highlights were:
Pine Beauty shown
5x Oak Beauty
Twin-sp Quaker (which although common seems to be scarce in my garden)
And one new micro A. Subpropinquella

A decent night at last.

Last night's GMS catch was far better than any night so far this year, either at home or in our local wood. In addition to Common Quaker & Hebrew Character, I also add to my year list:

12. Small Quaker
13. March Moth
14. Brindled Pug
15. Shoulder Stripe
16. Emmelina monodactyla

Shoulder Stripe

March Moth

The Year So Far - Derbyshire

So far this year has been slow to say the least.  Only 10 species of moth caught so far (plus 1 Butterfly) with trapping being very hit and miss (mostly due to the weather and being away with work!).

Things can only get better and hoping this cool spell ends soon!

Highlights this year (not many to choose from) would be Grey Shoulder-knot and a Satellite.  Here's a selection of species caught.

Chestnut (21st February)

Silver Y (4th March)

Clouded Drab (09th March)

Common Quaker (09th March)

Early Grey (09th March)

Satellite (09th March)

Beautiful Plume (16th March)

Still waiting for Pine or Oak Beauty!!  Hoping the weather is better next weekend and I get a few more new for the year!.

Happy mothing folks and look forward to all of your updates (#teammoth)

One More in Bucks

Although I've already had these for the year in my local woodland, first for the garden year list last night (and in fact the entire contents of the trap after a cold and wet GMS night):

11. Hebrew Character

Handy extra species

I've had the moth pictured below, which I presumed was a Pale Pinion, reclassified as a Tawny Pinion, which is a nice first for the garden and brings the total count for the year to 22.

Tawny Pinion, 17/3/14

A few more moths inc Pine Beauty & Lead Coloured Drab.Up to 10

Finally had the trap out and got a few more moths in.

Lead Coloured Drab

Pine Beauty

White Shouldered House Moth

Clouded Drab

Common Quaker

Emmelina Monodactyla

Hebrew Character

 Now up to 10:)

Brindled Pug (?) takes total to 22

Amongst the usual suspects of Common and Small Quaker and Hebrew Character this fella was almost overlooked clinging to the outside of the trap.

I am thinking Brindled Pug but am happy to be corrected.

22 Brindled Pug

A caller at the front door...

Last night, returning home from the kebab shop, this chap was "knocking" at the front door. He was invited in to spend the night in the fridge, but can be on his way again tonight.

11.  Early Thorn

Moths #14 for the year

After running the trap all night and getting just one Hebrew Ch and one Chestnut... Arrived home from work to find a Clouded Drab on the kitchen door and this Beauty:

Going Well

With the decent weather the moth trap has been producing good results with 29 individuals last night.  My total for the year is now 23 species - 21 moths and 2 butterflies, and these seem to include several that will be new additions to the species tally.  My list to date is

Scientific Name	Common Name
Acleris ferrugana/notana agg.
Acleris literana
Agonopterix heracliana
Agriopis leucophaearia	Spring Usher
Agriopis marginaria	Dotted Border
Alsophila aescularia	March Moth
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla
Choreutis pariana	Apple Leaf Skeletonizer
Conistra vaccinii	The Chestnut
Depressaria heraclei	Parsnip Moth
Emmelina monodactyla
Erannis defoliaria	Mottled Umber
Lithophane hepatica	Pale Pinion
Lithophane ornitopus	Grey Shoulder-knot
Lyonetia clerkella	Apple Leaf Miner
Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker
Orthosia cruda	Small Quaker
Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character
Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab
Phigalia pilosaria	Pale Brindled Beauty
Psychoides filicivora
Aglais urticae	Small Tortoiseshell
Polygonia c-album	Comma

Acleris literana

 Apple Leaf Skeletonizer

Psychoides filicivora

Good weekend - and hitting 400 (but only on our all-time list...)

Still only 'good' by fairly unexacting March standards, but the lovely weather this weekend has livened things up a bit around the trap. As well as the Satellite mentioned recently, we had quite a full trap (well, twenty moths, which was a record for the year) on Saturday night, including Acleris hastiana, Diurnea fagella, a handsome Early Grey and an Oak Nycteoline: the first and last of those gave us quite an i.d. headache, but the Oak Nycteoline was especially welcome, as it was a first for the garden, and our 400th garden moth species. Then tonight I found a Twin-spotted Quaker hanging around the trap, another year first, and the trap seems quite busy, so hoping to hit the twenties before too long...

Acleris hastiana, 15/3/14

Diurnea fagella, 15/3/14

Early Grey, 15/3/14

Oak Nycteoline, 15/3/14

Into the 20s

Another cracking weekend weather-wise, and a few more starting to appear in the moth traps plus another butterfly added today. Takes me up to 23 (19 moths, 4 butterflies). Additions since my last update are:

	Taxon	Vernacular	Earliest
15	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	09-Mar-14
16	Conistra ligula	Dark Chestnut	09-Mar-14
17	Lithophane hepatica	Pale Pinion	09-Mar-14
18	Acleris schalleriana		14-Mar-14
19	Conistra vaccinii	Chestnut	14-Mar-14
20	Gymnoscelis rufifasciata	Double-striped Pug	15-Mar-14
21	Chloroclysta siterata	Red-green Carpet	15-Mar-14
22	Caloptilia betulicola		15-Mar-14
23	Polygonia c-album	Comma	16-Mar-14

Red-green Carpet

Caloptilia betulicola

Single Satellite

Still not exactly recording huge hauls from our trap, but last night did bring five Common Quaker, one Hebrew Character, one Clouded Drab and our first Satellite of the year: year total edges up to fourteen...

Satellite, 14/3/14

Springing into action

It's all kicked off this weekend - the first decent night in the garden traps (20 of 8sp. on Saturday night) and today was glorious with the first butterflies flitting about. Best of the bunch so far is this Grey Shoulder-knot - used to be a county scarcity but just about annual in my garden now.

I'm up to 14 now, including one from tonight so far:

	Taxon	Vernacular	Earliest
14	Diurnea fagella		09-Mar-14
13	Acrolepia autumnitella		09-Mar-14
12	Aglais urticae	Small Tortoiseshell	09-Mar-14
11	Inachis io	Peacock	09-Mar-14
10	Gonepteryx rhamni	Brimstone	09-Mar-14
9	Lithophane ornitopus lactipennis	Grey Shoulder-knot	08-Mar-14
8	Xylocampa areola	Early Grey	08-Mar-14
7	Orthosia incerta	Clouded Drab	08-Mar-14
6	Alsophila aescularia	March Moth	08-Mar-14
5	Orthosia cerasi	Common Quaker	07-Mar-14
4	Emmelina monodactyla		05-Mar-14
3	Agonopterix heracliana		05-Mar-14
2	Agriopis marginaria	Dotted Border	13-Feb-14
1	Theria primaria	Early Moth	18-Jan-14

Chancing my hand

Well, I'm pretty sure last night's catch (ten individuals, spectacular by our standards so far this year) had several new species in it - to add to the Chestnut, Pale Brindled Beauty and Common Quaker from last month which I was too busy to report. I'm pretty sure the following photos are Clouded Drab and Small Quaker:

Presumed Clouded Drab, 8/3/14

Presumed Small Quaker, 8/3/14

And I'm pretty sure this is an Agonopterix ocellana, found on a window in our kitchen yesterday evening:

Presumed Agonopterix ocellana, 8/3/14

Assuming those three are all correct, and along with the Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies in our garden this lovely sunny Sunday, that brings us to a total of eleven species this year (eight moths, three butterflies) - which isn't much, but is eleven more than we had this time last year...

Spring moths in Bucks

A couple of micros in the garden as a result of my GMS trapping on Friday:

7. Agonopterix heracliana
8. Ambliptilia acanthadactyla

And a couple more last night:

9. Dotted Border
10. Common Quaker

First all night trapping session

And still very quiet in this part of Norfolk
Just 1 C Quaker and 1 H Character
Other addition was a Peacock butterfly hibernating on my sitting room ceiling but has now dissapeared .. Not sure where to!? And 1 Emmelina Monodactyla indoors too
#10 species so far

Warmer but still windy...

In spite of the spring-like day yesterday, the milder night, and a brand new actinic bulb, it was still pretty windy last night, which kept my garden catch down to one moth, but at least it was a new species for my year.

6. Satellite

The next three nights are looking pretty good, so here's to the list starting to speed up a bit!

Too hot to handle!

It might be a bit chilly outside, but after a lovely day when my first Peacock butterfly visited me in the garden, I thought I would put out the new MK2 moth trap to see what it would catch. This is a new revamped version of my old homemade trap which was getting a bit warped. A few mods saw me attaching the electrics to the side instead of just laying about.

On the trap went and after a couple of hours, I popped outside to see how things were going. The air was cool and fresh with a subtle hint of melting plastic, the odd moth fluttered.. MELTING PLASTIC!!! I looked down at the trap and the electric box on the side had this darkening square developing on it and was quite hot to the touch. I killed the power and waited for it to cool off. Then, after getting required tools, I popped the lid off.

Molten plastic, not good.

It would seem the base plate which holds the electrics had come away and the big blocky thing (I'm not an electrician it case you haven't guessed) was leaning against the lid melting its way out. So there ended tonight trapping session. Will need to replace the box tomorrow. In the meantime, I checked through the trap to see what it had caught. 5 moths, a Hebrew Character, Common Quaker, Chestnut, Yellow Horned and a Clouded Drab.

Yellow Horned

Clouded Drab

Common Quaker

Chestnut, despite what the background says, I don't advise you 'Taste it".

These 5 coupled with the 2 moths (Agonopterix arenella, Alucita hexadactyla) and this mornings Peacock butterfly bring my total to a whopping 8.

Roll on spring :)