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Sightings Archive Index
TOTAL MOTH SPECIES RECORDED IN 2005
566
This is an archive of the UTB moth sightings
for January to December 2005.
Photographs have been removed to save space on the website.
First reported sighting of each species is indicated by lavender text.
Saturday
31st December 2005
Dave Wilton sent in his final moths for 2005: “Here are
two more trap reports from Westcott to complete the year's sightings: 21st December brought in Winter Moth (2)
and Mottled Umber (2, pictured below). I half expected to find a
December Moth in there as well as I'd discovered one in the garage and released
it into the garden that evening, but it didn't come back. On 31st December all I got was Winter Moth (1)
and Chestnut (1).”
30/12/05 – David Redhead reported the following interesting
discovery: “Most
years a pre-Christmas retrieval visit is required to our loft. I usually take
the opportunity to have a search for hibernating butterflies as on my first
visit, some twenty years ago, I discovered about a dozen Peacocks and half a
dozen Small Tortoiseshells. Over the two decades the numbers have gradually
dwindled and this year, on Friday 23rd December, the lowest count to date was
achieved with just one of each species. However, I did manage to add a new
species - a hibernating Herald moth. By precariously balancing a torch I
was able to produce enough illumination to allow my camera to focus and obtain
the attached photograph (see below):”
29/12/05 - Dave Maunder recorded a few late moths in Aylesbury over
the last four weeks or so:-
Sprawler (17-11), December moth (12-12), Winter moth (16),
Mottled Umber (4), and Emmelina monodactyla (5).
Tuesday
27th December 2005
[Apologies
for the delay in posting the following, due to computer problems:]
Dave Wilton reports that another trapping session
at Westcott on 14th December achieved double-figures, the mild night bringing
in: December
Moth (4), Winter Moth (8), Acleris rhombana (1) and
Exapate congelatella (1). “Of the two
tortrices, the second is new to the UTB list. I tried trapping again on the
15th but the wind was much stronger and all I managed to get was December Moth
(3) and Winter Moth (3).”
On 10th December Dave Wilton reported the following: “I'm still putting the trap
out at Westcott occasionally and on 3rd December it brought in single
examples of Winter Moth and Satellite, as shown in the picture
below.
Also, on 6th December my wife found a largish micro in the bathroom
(length of each wing about 15mm) which has now been confirmed as Depressaria chaerophylli. There are apparently
few Bucks records of this species and I note that it is also new to the UTB
list for 2005.”
Tuesday
15th November 2005
Alastair Driver sent in the following unusual addition to the 2005 UTB moth list on
13th November: “This is pretty pathetic I know, but
a moth is a moth! Yesterday my wife urged me to take a look at what appeared to
be eating a carpet in a dark closet in the house and I discovered the cases and
then an adult of what turned out to be the Case-bearing
Clothes Moth (Tinea pellionella). The
adult was only about 1/4 inch long, so I needed a lens to identify it! Got to
be the smallest moth I've ever seen! I guess they all count though, no matter
how obscure!"
Dave Maunder recorded the following moths in Aylesbury during the
last couple of weeks: “The few moths I've seen comprise Feathered Thorn (4),
Light-brown Apple moth (2), and Emmelina monodactyla (2). The
next few days don't seem at all good for moths or butterflies, with very low
temperatures forecast!”
Tony Towner ran his garden trap in Tilehurst on 12th
November between
17:20 and 23:30 and managed one specimen - Mottled Umber.
On 11th November Keith Mitchell had a couple of moths
attracted to his house lights in Stoke Goldington:
Red-green Carpet on 8th November (garden first) and December Moth on 11th November (his first this year).
Dave Wilton put the trap out at Westcott again on
10th November: “I managed just five moths, but at least I got a new
species this time: December Moth (2),
Feathered Thorn (1) & Sprawler (2). I've sent along pictures
of the Feathered Thorn (quite a dusky male) and December Moth (see below).
Also, while surveying for Brown Hairstreak butterfly eggs at Lapland Farm
meadow on 11th November, I
found two Blue-bordered Carpet eggs and a half-grown Oak Eggar caterpillar
(photo below).”
Monday
7th November 2005
Dave Wilton ran his moth trap again at Westcott
last night, 6th: “ It was the first rain/gale-free night here for
nearly a week. It managed a grand total of five moths: Satellite (1),
Sprawler (3) and Yellow-line Quaker (1). I usually find that about a
quarter of any night's catch is to be found outside the trap, either on the
lawn, on other vegetation or on the fence, which is why I always get up just
before dawn to ensure that the birds don't get a free breakfast. However, the
percentage was rather different last night because only the Satellite actually
entered the trap! As I won't have completed my first year of trapping until
next March I'll continue to put the trap out on suitable occasions through the
winter just to see what might be about locally. The garden has produced more
than 280 species in just under nine months so the goal for me will be 300 next
year!”
Thursday
3rd November 2005
On 2nd
November Keith Mitchell sent the following October moth summary from Stoke Goldington: “October has been a bit hectic, but highlighted by a Juniper Carpet on 26th (a
good record – see photo below). Other moths included Barred Sallow,
Beaded Chestnut, Black Rustic, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Brown-spot Pinion,
Centre-barred Sallow, Dark Chestnut, The Engrailed, Feathered Thorn, Garden
Rose Tortrix, Green-brindled Crescent, Grey Pine Carpet, Large Ranunculus,
Large Wainscot, The Mallow, Mouse, Pale Mottled Willow, a pristine Red-line
Quaker (photo below), Rosy Rustic, Sallow, Satellite, Sprawler,
Spruce Carpet, Turnip Moth, Vine's Rustic and Yellow-line Quaker.”
2nd November - Dave Maunder has seen a few more moths in
Aylesbury during the last week:-
Green-brindled Crescent (1), Large Wainscot (1), Grey Shoulder-knot
(2), November moth (1), and Emmelina monodactyla (1).
30th October at Westcott was Dave
Wilton’s final garden trapping session for October and it brought in 14
species: ”Three of them were new to my garden list: Winter Moth, Grey
Shoulder-knot and the pyralid Eudonia angustea. The full list of species was: Winter
Moth, Feathered Thorn, Figure of Eight, Sprawler, Grey Shoulder-knot, Blair's
Shoulder-knot, Green-brindled Crescent, Red-line Quaker, Yellow-line Quaker,
Beaded Chestnut and micros Acleris sparsana, Udea ferrugalis/Rusty Dot Pearl,
Eudonia angustea, Emmelina monodactyla. All three of the grey macro moths
which are currently flying came to the trap and I managed to get a photograph
of them together, see below.”
Monday
31st October 2005
Tony Towner sent the following on 28th October: “Here are my sightings for my garden
trap at Tilehurst on 14/10/05:
Shuttle-Shaped
Dart (2), Blair's Shoulder-knot (2), Lesser Yellow Underwing (1), Garden Carpet
(1), Black Rustic (1), Merveille du Jour (1).
Recently returned from holiday, Peter Hall sent
in the following two moth trap reports from his garden in Ballinger Common:
18/10/05 - Spruce Carpet; Feathered Thorn; Figure of Eight; Setaceous
Hebrew Character; Black Rustic; Blair's Shoulder-knot; Chestnut; Acleris
variegana (Garden Rose Tortrix)
26/10/05 - Spruce Carpet; Feathered Thorn; Figure of Eight; Setaceous Hebrew
Character; Blair's Shoulder-knot; Chestnut; Red-green Carpet; Common Marbled
Carpet; November Moth; Pale November;
Sprawler; Grey Shoulder-knot; Merveille du Jour; Satellite; Yellow-line quaker;
Beaded Chestnut; Angle Shades; Silver Y and micros: Blastobasis lacticolella; Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown
Apple); Acleris hastiana; Orthopygia glaucinalis; Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.
Friday
28th October 2005
Dave Wilton finished identifying last night's
collection, 26th October, from his garden trap in Westcott and found
the Sprawler was the only one new to the UTB list. The warm night brought
an interesting collection of 54 moths to the trap. The 20 species comprised Red-green
Carpet (4), Common Marbled Carpet (4), November Moth agg (3), Feathered Thorn
(8), Figure of Eight (1), Large Yellow Underwing (1), Sprawler
(1), Black Rustic (2), Green-brindled Crescent (4), Merveille du Jour (1), Dark
Chestnut (1), Red-line Quaker (4), Yellow-line Quaker (5), Beaded Chestnut (4),
Lunar Underwing (4), Sallow (1), Dark Arches (2), Snout (1), Hypsopygia
costalis/Gold Triangle (2), Udea ferrugalis/Rusty Dot Pearl (2). “The
Sprawler and Rusty Dot Pearl were new to my garden list, while the two fresh
Gold Triangles suggest that this is another pyralid moth which now has a second
brood.”
Dave had also put the trap out the previous night
(25th) but the strong wind kept the catch down to 21 moths of 10
species. However, they included Satellite (1), Blair's Shoulder-knot (3) and
Endrosis sarcitrella/White-shouldered House Moth (1) which he didn't get
again on the 26th.
Ched George had his first autumn Satellite last night the 26th October: Not new to the list due to the hibernators last spring, but his first for this brood.
26/10/05 – Moths seen in Aylesbury
by Dave Maunder since 11th October
were:-
Vapourer moths (2 - 1 on 12th, 1 on 16th - late 2nd brood specimens,
perhaps?); Hummingbird hawk moth (1 - on Buddleia, Quarrendon, seen by a
friend, Nigel Garbutt); Large Yellow Underwing (1), Angle Shades (1),
Grey shoulder-knot (1), November moths (4), Garden Carpet (1),
Green-brindled Crescent (1), Light Brown Apple moths (4), Satellite
(1) and Ruby Tiger larva (1), Dot moth larva (1 - 4th
instar), and Large Yellow Underwing larva (1).
In spite of it starting to rain on Tuesday evening (20th)
almost as soon as he turned the trap on and staying that way until the early
hours of Wednesday, David Redhead still managed to catch 11 macro-moths - 5 November Moths, 3 Large
Wainscots, 1 Red-green Carpet, 1 Barred Sallow and 1 Feathered
Thorn - the last two were firsts for David’s 2005 garden list.
Wednesday
19th October 2005
Dave Wilton ran his overnight moth trap on 17th
October: “It’s a while since I had so few moths in the trap! At Westcott
on the 17th I got just 27 (of 17 species), the low temperature and moonlight
having conspired against me. The full list comprised: Red-green Carpet (3),
Common Marbled Carpet (1), November Moth agg. (4), Feathered Thorn (1), Figure
of Eight (1), Black Rustic (1), Blair's Shoulder-knot (1), Green-brindled
Crescent (4), Satellite (1), Red-line Quaker (2), Yellow-line Quaker (2),
Beaded Chestnut (1), Lunar Underwing (1), Barred Sallow (1), Dusky-lemon Sallow
(1), Acleris sparsana (1) and Acleris rhombana
(1). The Figure of Eight and Acleris rhombana (Rhomboid Tortrix) were new
to my garden this year and the latter appears to be new to the UTB list as
well.”
16th October - David Redhead’s overnight garden moth
trap produced 19 macro-moths from 8 species, in spite of the rain: 6 Large Wainscot, 5 November Moth (confirmed by Martin Townsend),
2 Green-brindled Crescent, 2 Yellow-line Quaker (garden first)
and singletons of Chestnut, Common Marbled Carpet, Large Yellow Underwing and
Red-green Carpet.
Ched George’s trap on the night of the 14th produced 12 species including a Figure of
Eight and a Merveille du Jour.
Also, on 11th October. 1 Orange Sallow and a Deep
Brown Dart.
Sunday
16th October 2005
Jan Haseler had a Dotted Chestnut turn up in her
Tilehurst trap on Monday 10th October. “All the 21 records in
the Berkshire moth database are of spring specimens. I have had to go back
nearly 60 years to find an autumn record of Dotted Chestnut. Brian
Baker saw 2 at sugar in October and November 1948 at Ambarrow Hill (which
appears to be near Sandhurst).”
Derek Brown sent the following report on 15th
October: “I've been continuing the moth trapping this year and have
now got up to 133 macro species and about 20 identified micros for the garden,
including Merveille du Jour which turned up in my trap last night. One
new entry for the list - having just obtained Goater's Pyralid guide I realise
that I had Evergestis pallidata earlier
this year, on 30th July.”
15th October - Dave Wilton says he’s
still managing a good variety of species in Westcott, although overall numbers
are now starting to fall significantly: “A November Moth agg.
trapped here on 3rd October is still awaiting confirmation of exact species but
I hope to have this sorted within a few days.
On 11th October I managed
117 moths of 24 species: Common Marbled Carpet (1), November Moth agg.
(2), Feathered Thorn (1), Large Yellow Underwing (15), Lesser Yellow
Underwing (1), Setaceous Hebrew Character (8), Square-spot Rustic (2), Black
Rustic (14), Blair's Shoulder-knot (6), Green-brindled Crescent (1), Brindled
Green (1), Dark Chestnut (2), Red-line Quaker (4), Beaded Chestnut (18), Lunar
Underwing (22), Barred Sallow (2), Sallow (7), Rosy Rustic (1), Large Wainscot
(1), Uncertain (1), Burnished Brass (1), Silver Y (1), Acleris variegana (1)
& Acleris sparsana (2).
On 14th October the trap
brought in 66 moths of 23 species, of which Blood-vein (2), Red-green Carpet
(1), Shuttle-shaped Dart (1), Yellow-line Quaker (1), Orange Sallow (1),
Dusky-lemon Sallow (2), Pale Mottled Willow (1) & Orthopygia glaucinalis
(2) were additional to the previous session. None of the species from
either date is new to the UTB list. However, the pyralid Orthopygia glaucinalis
is interesting, being such a late sighting of a species which normally flies in
July and August, and suggests the possibility of a second brood.
In the garden today, 15th October, I found Silver
Y along with micros Choreutis pariana (Apple
Leaf Skeletonizer) (new to the UTB list, on the final bloom of one
of my buddleias) & Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla (four disturbed from
vegetation while mowing the lawn).”
Friday
14th October 2005
11t October - Dave Maunder sent his weekly report of moths seen
over the last week around Aylesbury:
Large Ranunculus (4), Silver-y (2), Emmelina monodactyla (4), Grey
Shoulder-knot (4), Large Yellow Underwing (1), Lesser Yellow Underwing (1),
Lunar Underwing (4), Sallow Moth (1), Angle Shades (1) and Ruby Tiger larva on
nettles.
9th October - Alastair Driver reports catching Udea ferrugalis (Rusty
Dot Pearl), another
new addition to the UTB 2005 Species List.
Ben Carpenter recorded a new moth for the UTB
2005 Species List on 7th October - an Autumnal
Rustic, found at Wytham.
Sunday
9th October 2005
Alastair Driver had a decent trapping session in his garden at Sonning overnight on 7th October: “16 species caught. No new parish records, but 2 new for the garden - Brindled Green and Deep-brown Dart. Other firsts for the year for me were Feathered Thorn, Beaded Chestnut and Blair's Shoulder Knot.”
Saturday
8th October 2005
Dave Wilton put the trap out again last night, 7th
October, as it was another warm night: “It brought in a total of 275 moths with 24 species
trapped. Six that I didn’t get last time were: Blood-vein (1), Red-green
Carpet (1), Green-brindled Crescent (3, new to my garden list), Satellite
(3), Dark Arches (1) and Uncertain (1), so October is still
providing plenty of variety.”
Eddie Napper reports as follows: “With the
continuing mild weather I ran the 30w actinic trap again in my Wokingham garden
overnight on the 6th October. Highlight
this time was a Merveille du Jour.”
Moths in Jan Haseler’s Tilehurst garden on 6th
October included: 2 Acleris sparsana;
Deep-brown Dart (new for the garden); a second generation Swallow-tailed
Moth and a new generation Chestnut.
Dave Wilton says his Robinson trap continues to hoover up the local insect population at night: “On 3rd October I managed a remarkable total of 406 moths of 27 species, of which Merveille du Jour and Yellow-line Quaker were new to my garden for this year. The full list was as follows:
Common Marbled Carpet (3), Spruce Carpet (1), Large
Yellow Underwing (6), Lesser Yellow Underwing (1), Setaceous Hebrew Character
(12), Square-spot Rustic (4), Common Wainscot (2), Deep-brown Dart (7), Black
Rustic (10), Pale Pinion (1), Blair's Shoulder-knot (10), Merveille du Jour (1), Brindled Green (1), Brick
(1), Red-line Quaker (2), Yellow-line Quaker (1),
Beaded Chestnut (39), Lunar Underwing (277), Barred Sallow (3), Pink-barred
Sallow (3), Sallow (8), Dusky-lemon Sallow (7), Angle Shades (2), Rosy Rustic
(1), Frosted Orange (1) & Pale Mottled Willow (1).”
David Redhead ran a garden moth trap overnight on 5th
October:
"Not too bad a catch for time of year with 28 macro-moths from 15 species
- Large Yellow Underwing (7), Snout (5), Lunar Underwing (3),
Black Rustic (2) and singletons of Blair's Shoulder-knot, Broad-bordered
Yellow Underwing, Common Marbled Carpet, Frosted Orange, Green-brindled
Crescent, Large Wainscot, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Pale Mottled Willow,
Red-green Carpet, Rosy Rustic and Sallow."
Running his trusty 30w actinic trap overnight on
the 5th October Eddie Napper recorded 20 moths of 12 species
including this Figure of Eight (see
below) - a new one for his garden and the UTB 2005 Species List.
5th October - Dave Maunder’s list of moth sightings
around Aylesbury last week included:-
Large Yellow Underwing (2), Lunar Underwing (8), Grey
Shoulder-knot (3), Large Ranunculus (3), Beaded Chestnut (1, at Ethrope), Garden Carpet (1),
Willow Beauty (1- a late one on 3rd Oct.), and a Dot Moth
larva.
Sunday
2nd October 2005
David Redhead ran a garden moth trap last night, 1st
October: “Owing
to the low overnight temperature it gave a small but varied catch with 17
macro-moths from 9 species. These included a first for my garden, a Green-brindled Crescent. Other species were - Lunar
Underwing 4, Large Wainscot 3, Large Yellow Underwing 3, Beaded Chestnut 2,
Common Marbled Carpet 1, Red-green Carpet 1, Snout 1.”
Dave Wilton also ran a trap at Westcott last
night, 1st October: “It managed a ‘paltry’ 162 moths of
17 species (113 were Lunar Underwings). I managed one new addition for
my garden, a single Red-green Carpet, but nothing else of note. I'm
surprised the trap held as many moths as it did because we were close to having
a frost here.”
30/09/05 - Eddie Napper sent the following email: “Looking
at the website I noticed that no one had reported this yet this year: running a
30w actinic overnight on 29/09/05, despite the rain, new for the garden were 2 Pine Carpets - see picture below.”
28/09/05 - Dave Maunder sent in his list of moth
sightings from around the Aylesbury area during September. He
recorded the following 36 species by looking at the moths attracted to house
and street lights, Other moths were found on fence posts, building walls,
buddleias and even in a bus shelter!
Angle Shades; Brimstone Moth;
Burnished Brass; Centre-Barred Sallow; Common Rustic; Common Wainscot; Dusky
Thorn; Emmelina Monodactyla; Feathered Gothic; Flounced Rustic; Frosted
Orange; Garden Carpet; Grey Shoulder Knot; Hummingbird Hawk Moth
(on Buddleia); Large Ranunculus; Large Yellow Underwing; Light-Brown Apple Moth;
Lesser Yellow Underwing; Lunar Underwing (in a bus
shelter); Many Plume Moth; Marbled Beauty; Orange Swift; Pale Mottled
Willow; Red Underwing; Setaceous
Hebrew Characters; Silver-Y; Small Dusty Wave; Snout Moth; Square-Spot Rustic;
Svensson’s Copper Underwing; The Rustic; Treble Lines; Turnip Moth; Vapourer
Moth; Willow Beauty; Yellow Shell
Dave also recorded Buff-Tip larvae (35+) at 3rd
instar on 3-9-05 and a fully grown Vapourer Moth larva on 5-9-05.
Dave Wilton ran his overnight moth trap again at
Westcott on 27th September: “Despite the cold it
brought in 323 moths of 27 species, including Brindled Green (2) and Red-line Quaker (1) which were new to my list.
I also got my first Satellite of the winter along with a fresh Snout whose
size and appearance was more like a first-brood specimen (picture below).”
Monday
26th September 2005
David Redhead’s overnight moth trap on 24th September
produced 51 macro-moths from 20 species which included two firsts for his garden - Blair's
Shoulder-knot (2) and Beaded Chestnut (1). Other species recorded were:
Large
Yellow Underwing (16), Common Marbled Carpet (5), Snout (4), Black Rustic (3),
Angle Shades (2), Copper Underwing (2), Lunar Underwing (2), Red-green Carpet
(2), Rosy Rustic (2), Sallow (2) and singletons of Blood-vein, Broad-bordered Yellow
Underwing, Large Wainscot, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Red Underwing, Straw Dot,
Turnip Moth & Vine's Rustic. The Blood-vein is presumably third brood
which is said to occur occasionally in the south of England.
It was about 12C in Dave Wilton’s garden in
Westcott when he ran his overnight trap on 24th: “the
warmest we've had it for a while. My collection of 667 moths (including 389
Lunar Underwings!) comprised 32 species although only two were new to my garden
list: Brick (confirmed by Martin
Albertini) and Barred Sallow. All were noctuids apart from Common
Marbled Carpet (1), Brimstone Moth (1), Canary-shouldered Thorn (1)
and Garden Rose Tortrix (3). Watching the Robinson in action is often
very much like my day job, with moths descending from on high - if they can
dodge the bat patrol - and taking up a holding pattern while waiting to enter
the trap. On some nights it seems to be far busier than Heathrow, all without
the need for an air traffic controller!”
Dave also passed on the following news: “On
Saturday 24th I found this 4mm caterpillar (see photo below) in
a leaf mine on a Horse Chestnut tree beside the A41 on the western outskirts of
Aylesbury this morning. It’s a potential
pest which is spreading rapidly throughout our area. Further details can be
found at www.forestresearch.gov.uk/fr/INFD-68JJRC
. I understand that some have now been found in Milton Keynes.”
Sunday
25th September 2005
Dave Wilton ran his moth trap again at Westcott on 22nd September and it brought in a healthy 575 moths of 30 species although only one was new to the UTB list.
“The full list comprised: Common Marbled Carpet (3), Brimstone Moth (1), Canary-shouldered Thorn (1), Dusky Thorn (3), Dark Sword-grass (1), Large Yellow Underwing (38), Lesser Yellow Underwing (3), Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (1), Setaceous Hebrew Character (38), Square-spot Rustic (56), Common Wainscot (14), Deep-brown Dart (23), Black Rustic (31), Blair's Shoulder-knot (1), Beaded Chestnut (19), Lunar Underwing (292), Pink-barred Sallow (6), Sallow (9), Dusky-lemon Sallow (4), Angle Shades (4), Flounced Rustic (3), Rosy Rustic (2), Frosted Orange (2), Uncertain (1), Vine's Rustic (11), Pale Mottled Willow (2), Burnished Brass (3), Silver Y (1), micros Garden Rose Tortrix/Acleris variegana (1), Acleris forsskaleana (1), hordes of crane flies and the usual assortment of caddis flies, lacewings, beetles and a solitary wasp. The Dark Sword-grass, my third of the year, was a particularly fresh-looking example so might be the offspring of a migrant from earlier in the year.
My two previous trappings brought in much lower quantities of moths, probably due to the low overnight temperatures and full moon. I had just 84 moths of 14 species on 17th September (Turnip Moth being the only addition to the above list) and then 248 moths of 21 species on 19th September (Dark Arches and Snout being additional).”
21st September - The following are some sightings from
Dave Maunder, Aylesbury, for 28th, 29th and 30th
August. Dave doesn’t run a moth trap but instead he very successfully records
day-flying moths and moths attracted to his house lights and street lights,
recording over 50 species in August alone:
28/08/05 -
Orange Swifts (6); Willow Beauty; Flounced Rustic; Large Yellow Underwing; Red
Underwing; Emmelina Monodactyla; Pyrausta Purpuralis (10+); Snout; Vapourer
Moth
29/08/05
- Vapourer Moth; Square-Spot Rustic; Marbled Beauty (3); Flame Shoulder; Shaded
Broad-Bar; Hummingbird Hawk Moth
30/08/05 -
Orange Swift; Willow Beauty; Square-Spot Rustic; Marbled Beauty; Willow Beauty
(3); Dusky Thorn; Brimstone (3); Large Yellow Underwing; Orange Swift (2).
Also, on 12/08/05, Dave recorded Eudonia
Truncicolella, which is a new addition to the UTB 2005 Species List.
23rd September - Peter Hall sent the results
of his last two overnight moth traps from his Ballinger Common garden:
20/09/05 Angle Shades; Barred Sallow; Black
Rustic; Brimstone Moth; Brindled Green; Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing; Common
Marbled Carpet; Copper Underwing; Dark Sword-grass; Deep-brown Dart; Dusky
Thorn; Frosted Orange; Large Yellow Underwing; Lesser Yellow Underwing; Lunar
Underwing; Rosy Rustic; Setaceous Hebrew Character; Silver Y; Smoky Wainscot;
Snout; Square-spot Rustic; Turnip. Micros:
Blastobasis adustella; Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown Apple); Acleris
variegana (Garden Rose Tortrix); Acleris hastiana.
29/08/05 Brimstone Moth; Brindled Green;
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing; Centre-barred Sallow; Common Marbled Carpet;
Common Rustic; Common Wainscot; Copper Underwing; Dark Arches; Double-striped
Pug; Dusky Thorn; Feathered Gothic; Flame Carpet; Flame Shoulder; Flounced
Rustic; Green Carpet; Iron Prominent; Large Yellow Underwing; Lesser
Broad-border; Lime-speck Pug; Maiden's Blush; Purple Bar; Riband Wave; Rosy
Rustic; Setaceous Hebrew Character; Shuttle-shaped Dart; Silver Y; Small
Square-spot; Square-spot Rustic; Straw Dot; Vine's Rustic; Willow Beauty. Micros: Ypsolopha dentella (Honeysuckle); Ypsolopha
sequella; Blastobasis adustella; Pandemis corylana (Chequered Fruit-tree
Tortrix); Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown Apple); Acleris laterana; Acleris
variegana (Garden Rose Tortrix); Celypha lacunana; Cydia pomonella (Codling);
Agriphila tristella; Agriphila geniculea; Evergestis forficalis (Garden
Pebble); Euzophera pinguis.
Wednesday
21st September 2005
This news received from Alastair Driver on 19th September: “Just back from an adventurous 3 weeks in tropical Queensland (boy would I like to do some moth-trapping there!) - hence the absence of any reports from me lately. I had an excellent night's trapping at Ali's Pond LNR in Sonning, last night (18th), with hundreds of macro-moths of 27 species caught. New for my parish records were Bulrush Wainscot (photo below) and The Sallow, and new for my year list were Orange Sallow, Rosy Rustic, Copper Underwing, Lunar Underwing, Barred Sallow, Square-spot Rustic and Black Rustic. I also attach a photo of the three Sallow species together (see below).”
Two more moth traps in David Redhead’s garden in Oxon produced the
following:
18th September – “On a cold moonlit night just 5 macro-moths and no micros - 2 Common
Marbled Carpet, 2 Large Yellow Underwing and 1 Sallow. Also a
Lunar Underwing on the front door. At least the last two were new to my
2005 garden list.”
and:
19th September – “An overcast and warmer night gave a typical catch for my garden in
mid-September = 75 macro-moths from 24 species plus several micros. A Mallow
and a Meal Moth (micro) were new for my all time garden list and a Black
Rustic and Large Wainscot were new for 2005. The other macros were: Large
Yellow Underwing (23), Snout (16), Lunar Underwing (10), Common Marbled Carpet
(5), Lesser Yellow Underwing (2), Angle Shades (1), Brimstone Moth (1),
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (1), Burnished Brass (1), Copper Underwing (1),
Frosted Orange (1), Green Carpet (1), Light Emerald (1), Red Underwing
(1), Rosy Rustic (1), Setaceous Hebrew Character (1), Silver Y (1), Square-spot
Rustic (1), Svensson's Copper Underwing (1), Turnip Moth (1) & Willow
Beauty (1).”
Jan
Haseler sent in the following recent sightings from Tilehurst:
07/09/05 - Eudonia
pallida
18/09/05 - Large
Ranunculus and Eudonia angustea (this one was on a bedroom ceiling,
the others were at MV light).
Keith Mitchell’s garden trap in Stoke Goldington produced the
following moths on 17th and 18th September, 2 new ones for Keith’s garden and
the UTB 2005 List:
Angle Shades;
Beaded Chestnut (7) (first seen on 13th); Black Rustic (5); Brown-spot Pinion
(2); Burnished Brass; Canary-shouldered Thorn (see photo at top of page); Common Marbled Carpet; Common
Wainscot (19); Dark Arches; Emmelina monodactyla; Engrailed; Eudonia angustea (2); Frosted Orange
(2); Large Yellow Underwing (63); Lesser Yellow Underwing; Lunar Underwing
(50); Mallow; Rosy Rustic (3); Setaceous Hebrew Character (4); Small
Square-spot; Small Wainscot;
Square-spot Rustic (10); Turnip; Vine's Rustic.
Saturday
17th September 2005
Dave Wilton put the trap out again at Westcott overnight on 14th September, in the vain hope of getting a migrant hawk moth: ”The only long-distance travellers that came my way were a pair of Silver Ys. However, I still managed six new species for my garden: Beaded Chestnut (1), Deep-brown Dart (3), Dusky-lemon Sallow (2), Mallow (1), Pink-barred Sallow (1) and Spruce Carpet (1). Other species recorded were:
Pale Eggar (1), Common Marbled Carpet (7), Green
Carpet (1), Brimstone Moth (4), Dusky Thorn (6), Turnip Moth (3), Large Yellow
Underwing (102), Lesser Yellow Underwing (1), Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
(4), Setaceous Hebrew Character (97), Square-spot Rustic (192), Common Wainscot
(91), Black Rustic (18), Centre-barred Sallow (2), Lunar Underwing (50), Sallow
(1), Copper Underwing (1), Svensson's Copper Underwing (1), Angle Shades (10),
Rosy Rustic (3), Frosted Orange (5), Uncertain (1, fresh), Vine's Rustic (9),
Pale Mottled Willow (3), Burnished Brass (1), Silver Y (2), Straw Dot (2),
Snout (3) and micros Garden Pebble/Evergestis forficalis (1), Garden Rose
Tortrix/Acleris variegana (2), Large Fruit-tree Tortrix/Archips podana (1),
Celypha lacunana (1).”
Tuesday
13th September 2005
Dave Wilton’s garden moth trap at Westcott on 12th September produced the following: “538 moths of 29 species but four of them were new to the garden: Large Wainscot, Lunar Underwing, Orange Sallow and Sallow. A lone Dark Sword-grass was the only migrant on this occasion.”
Keith Mitchell ran moth traps in his garden on 8th and 9th
September with the following results:
“8th September produced Emmelina
monodactyla, Red Underwing and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, which
were not recorded earlier in the week, and also the first Lunar Underwing
of the year. On 9th September,
my garden trap produced the following moths which were garden firsts: Brown-spot Pinion (see photo below), Carnation
Tortrix and Large Fruit-tree Tortrix. Supporting cast were Lime-speck
Pug, Dark Arches, Pyrausta aurata, Lesser broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and
Dusky Thorn (3); all new for the week.” Keith also reports that Vestal
and Convolvulus Hawk-moth have
both been caught in Willen (Milton Keynes) by George
Higgs in the last few days, so it’s worth looking out for these and
other migrants.
The night of 7th September brought in another
good haul at Dave Wilton’s garden in Westcott with just short of 700 moths. “However,
half of that total were Square-spot Rustics so I'll be glad when they're
over! New for my garden list were Black Rustic, Delicate,
Pale Eggar, Red Underwing and Rosy Rustic. Photos of the Delicate
(nice to get an immigrant like this) and Black Rustic appear below.”
Wednesday
7th September 2005
7/9 - Keith Mitchell sent
in the following report from Stoke Goldington: “These are records from my garden trap from 4th and
6th of September. 37 spp of which I think Brindled
Green, Pale Eggar and Black Rustic are new for the year.”
Angle Shades (2); Black Rustic (2);
Bright-line Brown Eye; Brimstone Moth (6); Brindled
Green; Burnished
Brass (6); Centre-barred Sallow (34); Common Carpet; Common Marbled Carpet;
Common Wainscot (45); Copper Underwing (3); Feathered Gothic (2); Flame
Shoulder (5); Flounced Rustic (26); Garden Carpet ; Green Carpet (5); Heart and
Dart (1); Large Yellow Underwing (141); Lesser Yellow Underwing (5); Light
Brown Apple Moth; Mouse Moth (5); The Nutmeg (2); Pale
Eggar; Pale Mottled Willow; Rosy Rustic; Setaceous Hebrew Character
(16); Shuttle-shaped Dart (2); Silver 'Y'; Six-striped Rustic (2); Small
Square-spot (3); Smoky Wainscot (2); Snout (2); Spectacle; Square-spot Rustic
(104); Straw Dot (7); Vine's Rustic (31); Willow Beauty; Yellow Shell (2).
David Redhead’s garden moth trap for 3rd/4th
September produced the following: ”127 Large Yellow Underwings made last night's moth
trap threaten to be a record in numbers for my garden in 2005. Did not quite make
it with 202 macro-moths from 24 species (record 220/52 on 27th June). A first
for my garden list Centre-barred Sallow (4). Other species caught: Frosted
Orange 1, Double-striped Pug 1, Square-spot Rustic 15, Setaceous Hebrew
Character 12, Dusky Thorn 5, Green Carpet 5, Common Wainscot 4, Flame Shoulder
4, Burnished Brass 2, Flounced Rustic 2, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
2, Shuttle-shaped Dart 2, Six-striped Rustic 2, Snout 3, Vine's Rustic 2,
Common Carpet 1, Poplar Hawkmoth 1 (fresh), Rosy Rustic 1, Silver-Y 1, Small
Square-spot 1, Willow Beauty 1 (and lots of wasps!).
Plus some random moth sightings:-
- Lesser Treble-bar & Pyrausta
ostrinalis at Pyrton Hill on
29th August and Watlington Hill on 4th
September.
- Peach Blossom caterpillar (see photo below) seen feeding on bramble by Whitecross Green Wood car park on 3rd September.
- Shaded Broad-bar still about with one seen at Watlington Hill on 4th September.
-
Couple of Snout put up from vegetation alongside River Thames whilst
early morning dog walking on 5th September.”
Dave Wilton got the trap out again on Thursday night (1st September) because it was so warm: “Due to work I missed the first couple of hours of darkness, which may have accounted for the reduction in geometrid species caught, but I was still overwhelmed with 700+ moths! Two thirds of this total came from just four species: Common Wainscot (50), Setaceous Hebrew Character (85), Large Yellow Underwing (97) and Square-spot Rustic (a massive catch of 333). I managed three further additions to my garden list and these were Svensson's Copper Underwing, Frosted Orange (also new to the UTB list) and Euzophera pinguis. Both Copper Underwing species were trapped and potted, giving me the opportunity to compare their facial palps under a magnifying glass. This seems to be a much easier way of telling them apart rather than trying to view the undersides of their hindwings. Nine Centre-barred Sallows came to the trap this time, providing some relief from all the ‘brown jobs’!”
Thursday
1st September 2005
Tim Watts recorded a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in his garden in Whitchurch on 25th, 26th and 31/8/05. He also saw a Red Underwing in flight during the daytime in Whitchurch on 26/8/05.
Dave Wilton sent some more moth trap records from his garden in
Westcott:
18th August (49 species/506 moths): “New for my garden list were Pebble
Hook-tip, Maiden’s Blush, Square-spot Rustic, Mouse Moth and micros Pyrausta
aurata, Agapeta hamana and Stenoptilia bipunctidactyla. Noteworthy
amongst the remainder were second-brood Purple Bar, Common Marbled Carpet,
Lime-speck Pug, Double-striped Pug (wish they were all as clearly marked as
this fresh example was!), Poplar Hawkmoth and Burnished Brass.”
23rd August (30 species/274 moths): “Just the one new addition and that
was Vine’s Rustic. Two fresh Poplar Hawkmoths were also trapped.”
28th August (40 species/355 moths): “New this time were Centre-barred Sallow, Vapourer (a close look
at one at last – beats following them around the hedgerows while looking for
Brown Hairstreak!), Garden Dart and Feathered Gothic.
In case anyone is interested, the full list this time comprised Orange Swift
(2), Blood-vein (1), Garden Carpet (1), Common Carpet (1), Purple Bar (1),
Green Carpet (2), Lesser Treble-bar (2), Magpie (1), Brimstone Moth (4),
Canary-shouldered Thorn (2), Dusky Thorn (4), Common Wave (1), Pebble Prominent
(1), Vapourer (1), Garden Dart (2), Flame Shoulder (38), Large Yellow Underwing
(91), Lesser Yellow Underwing (3), Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (2),
Small Square-spot (9), Setaceous Hebrew Character (41), Six-striped Rustic (5),
Square-spot Rustic (48), Bright-line Brown-eye (2, both fresh), Feathered
Gothic (2), Common Wainscot (25), Centre-barred Sallow (2), Dark/Grey Dagger
(1, fresh), Marbled Beauty (1), Straw Underwing (1), Angle Shades (2), Dark
Arches (6, two of them fresh), Common/Lesser Common Rustic (4), Flounced Rustic
(7), Uncertain/Rustic (5), Vine’s Rustic (21), Burnished Brass (10), Spectacle
(1), Straw Dot (2) and Mother of Pearl/Pleuroptya ruralis (2).”
Peter Hall had a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in his Ballinger Common
garden on 25th August.
28th
August 2005
David Redhead ran his garden moth trap again on 27th
August: “111 Large
Yellow Underwings made this my second most numerous moth trap of the year
with 197 macro-moths from 31 species. A couple of firsts for my 2005 garden
list - Angle Shades and a rather worn Maiden's Blush (see
photo below). Other species caught were:
Flame Shoulder 7, Setaceous Hebrew Character 7, Six-striped Rustic 7, Swallow Prominent 7, Brimstone 6, Green Carpet 5, Shuttle-shaped Dart 4, Square-spot Rustic 4, Burnished Brass </