Garden Catch 01/07/18 - Jolly start to July!

Onwards I march with my slightly out of date records! July started with a bang, ad a whole host of new additions to the garden year list were noted, but more notably 4 new for garden macro moths, 3 of which were totally unexpected and just not on my radar at all.

Not 1 but 2 migrant Four-spotted Footman (males) were both in the trap, I literally couldn't believe my eyes.
Also Larch Pug is only my second in 12 years and despite being worn, a Green Arches was a little out of it's usual habitat zone of damp carr woodland. 

Scarce Silver-lines was also good to add, but it was a bit bitter-sweet, with it found dead and rolled up in a spider's web, this isn't the first time that this has happened with garden firsts, with both my garden first Eyed Hawk-moth and Early Moth found in a similar state. 

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 307.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 01/07/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Four-spotted Footman [NFG]
Larch Pug [NFG]
Scarce Silver-lines [NFG]
Green Arches [NFG]
Marbled Beauty
Phoenix
Satin Beauty
Scalloped Oak
Scorched Carpet
Small Rivulet

Micro Moths

Argyresthia brockeella
Catoptria pinella

Catoptria pinella

Epagoge grotiana

Four-spotted Footman

Four-spotted Footman

Green Arches

Phoenix

Scalloped Oak

Scarce Silver-lines

Small Rivulet

Garden Catch 30/06/18 - Brown-tail new for garden!

Here is a list of new moths for the year found on Sunday morning on the very last day of June.


Highlight for me was my garden first record of Brown-tail... 5 years, it's been a long time coming and I wonder when I will see it again next?

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 295.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 30/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Brown-tail [NFG]
Blood-vein
Haworth's Pug
Slender Brindle

Micro Moths

Agapeta hamana
Eana incanana

Agapeta hamana

Blood-vein

Brown-tail

Slender Brindle

Eana incanana

Hypsopygia costalis

Garden Catch 29/06/18 - A right old mixed bag

A right old mixed bag of moths greeted me on Saturday morning, with plenty of time to peruse being the weekend and no work it's always easier to sort at a more leasurely pace.


As it was a cooler night, I dropped down to half the wattage to the old faithful and with it beong cooler the ctch was decreased.
There were still however 6 new for year species, 3 a piece for the Macro's and Micro's.

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 289.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 29/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Dingy Footman
Maple Prominent
Yellow-tail

Micro Moths

Athrips mouffetella
Pleuroptya ruralis
Zeiraphera isertana

Athrips mouffetella

Dingy Footman

Maple Prominent

Zeiraphera isertana

Garden Catch 28/06/18 - Just incredible

After that huge catch from the field trip the previous night (Which I was still recovering from, having got home at nearly 4am and then up at 7am!) the weather still looked good enough to trap once again in the garden.
This year I really have ran my trap a lot! The continued warm days and mostly warm nights have contributed to my efforts and I have been rewarded by bothering to get up at 4am, morning after morning.
Of course garden mothing is a whole lot easier than lugging gear 300 metres in questionable terrain, and it's bad enough setting it all up in the daylight let alone packing it all away in the dark at 2am.

But still there is something special about attaining that garden list and it will and does constantly surprise me with what turns up.

Best Mcacros of the night were a fresh Leopard Moth, a garden 2nd Rufous Minor (checked) and a lovely Small Ranunculus. 
The best Micro was only the 2nd garden record of the Lesser Wax Moth, Achroia grisella.

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 283.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 28/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Leopard Moth
Rufous Minor
Small Ranunculus

Micro Moths

Achroia grisella
Aphelia paleana
Argyresthia albistria
Carcina quercana
Endotricha flammealis

Achroia grisella

Aphelia paleana

Argyresthia albistria

Leopard Moth

Rufous Minor

Small Ranuculus

Field Trip - 27/06/18 - Home Wood - Bedfordshire

Below is the trip I made to Home Wood at the tail end of June.
It was an incredibl successful and warm night and may good species were observed over the 6 traps that we setup over various parts of the woodland. 

In total, 197 species were recorded with several pening dissections in the Winter.

Best species for me personally were Euspilapteryx auroguttella, both Ethmia dodecea & Ethmia quadrillella, Strophedra nitidana and Gelechia scotinella.
Both of the latter species are new to me. 

Below is the full list.

96 Macro and 101 Micro species recorded

Catch Report - 27/06/18 - Home Wood - 1x 250w Frosted MV Robinson Trap, 3x 125w MV Robinson Trap, 1x twin 20w Wemite Actinic + 1x 40w Actinic & 15w LED corn light

Macro Moths

Barred Red
Barred Straw
Barred Yellow
Beautiful Hook-tip
Blackneck
Blood-vein
Blotched Emerald
Blue-bordered Carpet
Brimstone Moth
Brown Rustic
Brown Scallop
Buff Arches
Buff Ermine
Buff Footman
Buff-tip
Burnished Brass
Clouded Border
Clouded Brindle
Clouded Silver
Common Emerald
Common Footman
Common Marbled Carpet
Common Swift
Common Wave
Common White Wave
Dark Arches
Dark Umber
Dotted Fan-foot
Double Square-spot
Double-striped Pug
Dun-bar
Engrailed
Fan Foot
Fern
Flame
Flame Carpet
Flame Shoulder
Ghost Moth
Green Pug
Green Silver-lines
Grey Pug
Grey-pine Carpet 
Haworth's Pug
Heart & Club
Heart & Dart
July Highflyer
Large Emerald
Large Nutmeg
Large Twin-spot Carpet
Large Yellow Underwing
Light Arches
Lunar-spotted Pinion
Maiden's Blush
Maple Prominent
Marbled Brown
Marbled Minor
Marbled White-spot
Minor Shoulder-knot
Mottled Beauty
Orange Footman
Pale Mottled Willow
Pale Oak Beauty
Pale Prominent
Peach Blossom
Peppered Moth
Petty Chalk Carpet
Pine Hawk-moth
Poplar Hawk-moth
Riband Wave
Satin Beauty
Satyr Pug
Scarce Footman
Scorched Carpet
Scorched Wing
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Short Cloaked Moth
Silver-ground Carpet
Silver-Y
Single-dotted Wave
Small Blood-vein
Small Dotted Buff
Small Fan-footed Wave
Small Yellow Wave
Smoky Wainscot
Snout
Spectacle
Spruce Carpet
Straw Dot
Swallow-tailed Moth
Tawny Marbled Minor
Tawny-barred Angle
Treble Brown Spot
Uncertain
V-Pug
White Satin
Yellow-tail

Micro Moths

Accentria emphemerella
Acleris hastiana
Acleris holmiana
Acleris kochiella
Acleris notana ferrugana
Acleris schalleriana
Acompsia cinerella
Acrobasis consociella
Acrobasis repandana
Agapeta hamana
Agapeta zoegana
Agonopterix liturosa
Aleimma loeflingiana
Anania hortulata
Anania lancealis
Ancylis achatana
Anthophila fabriciana
Aphomia sociella
Archips craetagana
Archips podana
Archips xylosteana
Argyresthia conjugella
Argyresthia pruniella
Batia lunaris
Blastobasis lacticolella
Blastodacna hellerella
Bryotropha terrella
Bryotropha terrella/desertella
Caloptilia stigmatella
Carcina quercana
Carpatolechia fugitivella
Cedestis gysseleniella
Celypha lacunana
Celypha striana
Chrysoteuchia culmella
Clepsis consimiliana
Cnephasia sp
Crambus lathoniellus
Crambus perlella
Crassa unitella
Dioryctria abietella
Ditula angustiorana
Ectoedemia sp
Elachista sp pos gangabella
Elachista sp pos stabilella
Emmetia marginea
Endothenia nigricostana
Endotricha flammealis
Epagoge grotiana
Ephestia sp
Epiblema uddmanniana
Epinotia abbreviana
Epinotia signatana
Epinotia sp
Ethmia dodecea
Ethmia quadrillella
Eucosma cana
Eucosma hohenwartiana
Eudonia lacustrata
Eudonia mercurella
Eudonia pallida
Euspilapteryx auroguttella
Exoteleia dodecella
Gelechia scotinella - pending
Gelechia sororculella
Grapholita funebrana
Gypsonoma dealbana
Gypsonoma sociana
Hedya nubiferana
Hedya ochroleucana
Hedya salicella
Hofmannophila pseudspretella
Homoeosoma sinuella
Hypsopygia glaucinalis
Lathronympha strigana
Mompha propinquella
Notocelia trimaculana
Pammene regiana
Pandemis cerasana
Pandemis heparana
Parachronistis albiceps
Paraswammerdamia albicapitella
Phalonidia manniana
Phycita roborella
Prays fraxinella
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
Pterophorus pentadactyla
Rhopobota naevana
Rhyacionia buoliana
Scoparia ambigualis
Scoparia basistrigalis
Scythropia crataegella
Strophedra nitidana
Syncopacma sp
Tinea semifulvella
Tinea trinotella
Tortrix viridana
Udea olivalis
Yponomeuta evonymella
Ypsolopha parenthesella
Zeiraphera isertana

Ethmia quadrillella

Strophedra nitidana

Scoparia basistrigalis

Minor Shoulder-knot

Hedya ochroleuca

Gelechia scotinella

Exoteleia dodecella

Euspilapteryx auroguttella

Acleris hastiana

Agonopterix liturosa

Archips craetagana

Carpatolechia fugitivella

Cedestis gysseleniella

Ethmia dodecea

Mompha propinquella

Garden Catch 26/06/18 - Common but welcome

That was the status of most of the moths in the trap this morning, common yes but alway nice to see for the first time each year.
A rare moth is great and probably the most exciting aspect of moth trapping, but it's also nice to photograph mint examples and new forms of common moths at the same time.
And also not forgetting garden firsts of common moths, like the Brown Scallop that was found on the brick wall behind the trap this morning! Not a particularly colourful moth mind but a welcome addition to the garden list all the same.

Turnip Moth was also present and some lovely forms found, one of which really threw me and resembled a dark Crescent Dart!
2 Yellow Shells brought a splash of yellow, one was particularly fresh despite seemingly missing nearly all of it's antennaes!  
Garden species count for 2018 now upto 275.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 26/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Brown Scallop [NFG]
Small Fan-footed Wave
Turnip Moth 4
Yellow Shell 2

Micro Moths

Oegoconia sp

Brown Scallop

Turnip Moth

Turnip Moth

Turnip Moth

Yellow Shell

Garden Catch 25/06/18 - Trapping every night brings new species

I seem to be trapping every night currently with these extremely warm conditions, and not just during the daytime, where highs of 28 degrees have become the norm lately.
With partly cloudy skies and no wind, catches have been huge for my small sub-urban/semi-rural garden.
The large and impressive Swallow-tailed Moth is a sight to behold each year, they always do very well in my garden and always remind me of Trpoical species of Uraniidae, some of which I was lucky to see in Thailand in 2011.
Engrailed was back as a smaller second generation and a few more common species bolstered the list to only 3 new species for the year mind, but with 72 species in total it was a pretty good catch.
 
Garden species count for 2018 now upto 270.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 25/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

Double Square-spot
Single-dotted Wave
Swallow-tailed Moth 2

Micro Moths

None Recorded!

Single-dotted Wave

Double Square-spot

Acentria emphemerella in there 10's!

Swallow-tailed Moth

Garden Catch 24/06/18 - Flying-high in June?!?

Still in June (just) and certainly with July just around the corner, the bonny July High-flyer turned up with two cracking examples.
I'm always excited with seeing new forms and I got a July Highflyer that i've never seen quite like before, really dark green and light green with orangey/grey highlights, the photo really doesn't do it justice in the poor light that I had to photograph it.

A further 6 new species were added to the garden year list.

Garden species count for 2018 now upto 267.

Here are the new for year species.

Catch Report - 24/06/18 - Back Garden - Stevenage - 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap

Macro Moths

July Highflyer 2
Scarce Footman
Short-cloaked Moth
Small Blood-vein

Micro Moths

Euzophera pinguis
Pandemis heparana
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

July Highflyer

Pandemis heparana

Scarce Footman

Short-cloaked Moth

Small Blood-vein