My Adventures in Entomology

New Blog

2011-06-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much spare time recently so this blog has been neglected and I don't have the time to update it regularly so I've done a new blog which will feature all the new species I discover as opposed to everything I catch....that way I will be able to update it occasionally instead or every day.

http://derbymoths.blogspot.com/

Autumn time

2010-10-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Feathered Thorn

The Brick

I've only been getting a few moths each time I trap, mainly a mix of Grey-pine Carpet, Feathered Thorn, the occasional Chestnut and November/Winter moth(Epiritta sp.) which is hardly surprising considering how cold it's been...hopefully next year will be a better year for moths in my garden.

Catch up time

2010-10-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been regularly updating the blog recently but a family crisis has eaten up a lot of my spare time, I have still been trapping as often as possible and I've had some interesting moths so here are some of them.

Red Line Quaker

Dusky Thorn

Angle Striped Sallow

Brindled Green

Lunar Underwing

Brindled Green ab - no green!

Beaded Chestnut

Blair's Shoulder Knot

Beaded Chestnut

Rustic & Sallow time

2010-08-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

Square-spot Rustic

The Sallow

Flounced Rustic

Centre Barred Sallow

The Sallow

Rosy Rustic

Plenty of assorted Yellow Underwings are still making a nuisance of themselves but the prettier Rustic and Sallow moths are showing up in reasonable numbers now to make up for it.

That's better....

2010-08-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Ypsolopha parenthesella

Ypsolopha parenthesella(again)

Small Square Spot

Square Spot Rustic

Feathered Gothic

Calamatropha paludella

Dark Sword Grass

The new lamp almost doubled the catch on Monday night and it included some beauties including my first ever Feathered Gothic, I also got the second Dark Sword Grass for this year but this one didn't manage to fly off before I got a photo. The Gold Spot moths have started to turn up in decent numbers again including one which is quite different in appearance so I'm hoping it's a Lempke's Gold Spot, I'll be sending it to my county recorder so he can get it checked properly and I'll let you know the result as soon as I have it.

Not very bright!

2010-08-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Small China Mark

Mouse Moth

Six Striped Rustic

Some of you may know that I recently purchased a large collection of butterfly and moth specimens plus a huge amount of setting and collecting equipment so I've been very busy with that recently as well as being in the midst of a family crisis. I have tried to put the trap out at least every other night(or in the kitchen doorway if it's been raining) but I have been very disappointed by the lack of moths compared to last year. I've sorted the collection now and the family crisis has just about sorted itself so with tonight being the warmest night for 2 weeks I put the trap out, I looked at it and realised that the lamp was nowhere near as bright as it should be so I swapped it for a new one and within seconds(literally!) the moths came swarming over. I get a bad feeling that I've been attempting to trap with a 'dull' lamp for the last few weeks and hopefully things will pick up again now it's been replaced.
Anyway the last 7 days have managed 3 new species including one NFG Macro(Mouse Moth) and one Small China Mark(NFG)(ID thanks to Bill)

Another weeks worth

2010-08-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Least Yellow Underwing

Catoptria pinella

Agriphila tristella

Small Ranunculus

Flame Carpet

Red Underwing

Straw Underwing?

Turnip Moth

After saying how quiet things have been in my last blog it has now started to pick up a bit, still not up to the numbers recorded this time last year but getting there and plenty of NFY and NFG species turning up.

Another handful

2010-08-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Lychnis

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Eucosma campoliliana

Nutmeg

?????

I've been trapping every other night but it's very quiet compared to this time last year, the temperatures have been low which could explain up to a point but there just don't seem to be as many moths in my garden this year?. I've still managed a few newbies this week though with a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing(NFY) and a Lychnis which is NFG as well as a few others I'm not sure of.(ID thanks to Matt for the Nutmeg(NFG)) ID thanks to Skev for the Eucosma campoliliana.

Beautiful Golden-Y, Rhyacionia pinicolana? & Copper Underwing +

2010-07-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Golden-Y

Rhyacionia pinicolana?

Shaded Broad-bar

Copper Underwing

A reasonable night last night with the first ever Beautiful Golden-Y, I also got what could be Rhyacionia pinicolana and Shaded Broad-bar which are both NFG.

2 Beautiful Golden-Y(NFG)
1 Shaded Broad-bar(NFG)
1 Copper Underwing(NFY)
1 Rhyacionia pinicolana(NFG)

10 more newbies inc Brown-line Bright-eye, Pale Mottled Willow and Pyrausta purpuralis?

2010-07-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Brown-line Bright-eye

Pale Mottled Willow

Pyrausta purpuralis

Acrobasis consociella

Honeysuckle Moth

Gold Triangle

Bordered Pug

Common Carpet

Yellow Shell

My trapping has been a bit sporadic recently due to the ever changing weather and time limitations but quite a few NFG and 1 NFY have turned up.

Brown-line Bright-eye(NFG)
Pale Mottled Willow(NFY)
Pyrausta purpuralis(NFG)?
Acrobasis consociella(NFG)(ID thanks Steve)
Honeysuckle Moth(NFG)
Mottled Rustic(NFG)?
Gold Triangle(NFG)(ID thanks Steve)
Bordered Pug(NFG)
Common Carpet(first one I've managed to get a decent photo of!)
Yellow Shell(not nfy or nfg but a beautiful specimen so I had to share it)

Lilac Beauty, Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing & Ypsolopha scabrella

2010-07-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Lilac Beauty

Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing

Ypsolopha scabrella

When I first noticed the Lilac Beauty on the garage wall I thought it was a freshly emerged Early Thorn drying it's wings but luckily I took a couple of photos and when I was going through the photos I realised what it was.

Lilac Beauty(NFG)
Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing(NFY)
Ypsolopha scabrella (NFG)(ID thanks Ben)

Some more NFY and 1 NFG

2010-07-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Burnished Brass

Magpie

Juniper Webber

I've had a madly busy week so the blog has been neglected but hopefully things will calm down a bit now so I can attempt to keep up to date with any new findings. I've only had chance to trap on a couple of nights but I did get a few NFY species and one micro which is NFG but I'm yet to ID it. These few take me to over 200 species for my garden so far this year so hopefully I could get to 250+ before the year is out.

1 Burnished Brass(NFY)
2 Magpie(NFY)
1 Juniper Webber (NFG)(ID thanks Ben)

An assortment of newbies

2010-07-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Buff Footman

Dun-bar

Smoky Wainscot

Silky Wainscot or Small Rufous? or ?

Light Arches or ?

??? #1

Oegoconia quadripuncta

Argyrthesia brockeella

Quite a few moths over the last few nights and quite a few new species for the garden, here are a few of them including a few I can't ID.

West End Farm Part 3 - 7/7/2010

2010-07-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

Privet Hawk

Scallop Shell

Ghost(with eggs)

Brown Rustic

Aleimma loeflingiana

Phlyctaenia perlucidalis

Sandy Carpet

Calamotropha paludella

Large Twin-spot Carpet?

Oak Nycteoline

My last night in Lincolnshire and it was another warm one, numbers wise it was the best night of the 3 with more species turning up as well as another Privet Hawk which was much bigger than the one I got on the first night. Other notable arrivals were Figure Of Eighty, White Spot, Sandy Carpet, Brown Rustic, Scallop Shell and a beautiful female Ghost which was kind enough to lay some eggs in her pot.
The trap was out from 10pm till 3am, 17c all night

1 Udea lutealis
2 Udea prunalis
3 Yellow Shell
2 Silver Ground Carpet
6 Light Emerald
4 Light Arches
7 Brimstone
5 Swallowtail
7 Small Fan-footed Wave
11 Snout
1 Elephant Hawk
2 Poplar Hawk
1 Privet Hawk
3 Poplar Grey
2 Barred Yellow
4 Common Emerald
6 Riband Wave
3 Flame
5 Flame Shoulder
2 Bee Moth
12 Clouded Border
17 Uncertain
2 Small Magpie
8 Double Square-spot
3 Light Grey Tortrix
2 Celypha Striana
7 Celypha Lacunana
4 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix
2 Common Wave
1 Common White Wave
6 Clouded Silver
4 Scoparia ambigualis
3 Burnished Brass
2 Plain Golden-Y
3 Figure Of Eighty
3 Buff Arches
5 Dark Arches
2 Grey/Dark Dagger
7 Mottled Beauty
4 Marbled Minor
2 Large Yellow Underwing
7 Clay
3 White Satin Moth
3 Yellow Tail
3 Green Pug
2 Pale Prominent
5 Coxcomb Prominent
9 Shoulder Striped Wainscot
4 Common Wainscot
2 Drinker
4 Common Footman
2 Scarce Footman
1 Small Fan-foot
1 Blood Vein
3 Beautiful Hook-tip
1 Scallop Shell
6 Barred Straw
4 Heart & Dart
3 Coronet
4 Marbled Coronet
1 Cyclamen Tortrix
2 Mother Of Pearl
1 Chinese Character
1 Sandy Carpet
1 Brown Rustic
1 Ghost
1 Spectacle
1 Small Rivulet
2 Large Twin-spot Carpet?
1 Early Thorn
3 Aleimma loeflingiana
2 Phlyctaenia perlucidalis(ID thanks Ben)
3 Calamotropha paludella(ID thanks Ben)
1 Oak Nycteoline(ID thanks Ben)

West End Farm Part 2 - 6/7/2010

2010-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Large Fruit-tree Tortrix

Twin-spot Carpet

Agapeta hamana

Yellow Tail

Cream-bordered Green-pea

V Pug

Crambus perlella

Chilo phragmitella

A much warmer night tonight which meant a lot of Crane flies and I mean a lot...hundreds of the little buggers but they didn't seem to deter the moths so there were hundreds of them again too, a lot of Carpet moths showed up tonight and more micros even though it was fairly windy.
The trap was out from 10:15pm till 3am and the temperature stayed at around 16c

4 Swallowtail
9 Fan-footed Wave
13 Brimstone
2 Small Magpie
11 Mottled Beauty
2 Catoptria pinella
21 Uncertain
4 Plain Golden-Y
7 Common Emerald
9 Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet
1 Drinker
8 Snout
8 Clouded Border
1 Silver Ground Carpet
2 Pale Prominent
4 Marbled Minor
3 Celypha Lacunana
2 Celypha Striana
8 Scoparia Ambigualis
6 Dark Arches
7 Double Square-spot
8 The Flame
3 Heart & Dart
2 Buff Arches
7 Light Emerald
3 Riband Wave
7 Light-grey Tortrix
2 Common Footman
2 Yellow Shell
3 Light Arches
2 Clay
1 Ingrailed Clay
2 Coxcomb Prominent
4 Clouded Silver
2 White Plume
3 Green Pug
1 V Pug
12 Shoulder Striped Wainsct
2 Yellow Barred
1 Poplar Hawk
3 Poplar Grey
1 Burnished Brass
3 Flame Shoulder
4 Marbled Orchard Tortrix
2 Cyclamen Tortrix
4 Barred Straw
1 Elephant Hawk
2 Straw Dot
3 Beautiful Hook-tip
3 Fan Foot
1 Cream Bordered Green Pea
2 Chilo phragmitella(ID thanks Ben)
4 Marbled Coronet
7 Coronet
2 Small Fan-foot
1 Yellow Tail
2 White Satin Moth
3 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix
1 Agapeta hamana
3 Twin-spot Carpet(ID thanks Ben)
2 Large Twin-spot Carpet
5 Common Carpet
3 Crambus perlella(ID thanks Ben)

West End Farm Part 1 - Monday 5/7/2010

2010-07-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Privet Hawk

The Coronet

Beautiful Hook-tip

Small Fan-footed Wave

Catoptria pinella

Coxcomb Prominent

Burnished Brass(both types!)

Coxcomb Prominent

Double Square-spot

Plain Golden-Y

White Plume

Mottled Beauty

Southern Wainscot

Engrailed

Green Arches

I've just got back from a 3 day camping trip to a site in Lincolnshire which turned out to be a moth trapping paradise!, we stayed at West End Farm(http://www.westendfarm.co.uk/) which is half way between Louth and Mablethorpe. Chris, the site owner has tried to retain as many wildlife habitat areas within the site as possible by fencing off sections of woodland and placing the camping pitches between them to avoid any encroachement. This has worked wonderfully and helps to make the site feel like you're camping in the woods but with the added bonus of a toilet/shower block and electric hook up. My wife(Jane) found the site on the net and rang Chris to book us in, during the conversation Jane explained about my interest in moth trapping and Chris was as curious as me to find out which moths inhabit the area. I must admit I wasn't expecting to get a lot of moths and on the first night the trap had been on for 40 minutes with only a few Small Fan Footed Wave and half a dozen Snout showing up but as the night went on more and more moths started to arrive and by 3am I had over 300 moths in and around the trap with everything from Light Grey Tortrix to Privet Hawk!.
The trap was on from 10pm till 3am, temperature went from 14c down to 12c.

43 Clouded Border
2 Yellow Shell
17 Scoparia Ambigualis
1 White Plume
17 Celypha Lacunana
16 Snout
8 Small Fan Footed Wave
9 Double Square-spot
11 Brimstone
3 Common Emerald
1 Red Underwing
1 Small Fan Foot
3 Barred Yellow
2 P. Coronata
7 Swallowtail
2 Small Blood-vein
8 Pale Emerald
22 Uncertian
3 Beautiful Hook-tip
7 Barred Straw
2 Silver Ground Carpet
2 Large Yellow Underwing
11 Marbled Minor
2 Tawny Marbled Minor
17 Riband Wave
3 Buff Arches
2 Plain Golden-Y
3 The Drinker
3 Coxcomb Prominent
1 White Satin Moth
12 Southern Wainscot(ID thanks Ben)
3 Swallow Prominent
1 Elephant Hawk
4 Common Footman
3 Common Wainscot
3 Heart & Dart
2 The Clay
3 Bright-line Brown-eye
3 Peppered Moth
1 Short Cloaked Moth
2 Fan Foot
4 Small Magpie
2 Dark Arches
2 Vine's Rustic
1 Common Pug
1 Pale Prominent
3 Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet
1 Lesser Swallow Prominent
3 Poplar Hawk
2 Poplar Grey
1 Privet Hawk
1 Light Arches
2 Burnished Brass
7 Engrailed
4 Marbled Coronet
9 The Coronet
2 Green Arches(ID thanks Ben)
6 Catoptria pinella(ID thanks Matt)
8 Mottled Beauty(ID thanks Matt)

West Hallam

2010-07-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Shaded Broad-bar

Latticed Heath

Clover-case Bearer

Latticed Heath(more gold than white!)

Blackneck

I had a few hours to spare this afternoon so I took the wife and dogs back to the site in West Hallam where I found several Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet last Sunday, I saw a lot of butterflies and plenty of grasshoppers and in about 90 minutes 47 moths. It was very windy so using the net was quite a task but I did ok and got one of every different species I saw...I will be going back there as soon as possible as it's quite a large site and I only covered a small section of it.

8 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet
3 Crambus lathoniellus
1 Straw Dot
12 Celypha lacunana
1 Blackneck
10 Latticed Heath
1 Clover-case Bearer
4 Snout
1 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
6 Shaded Broad-bar(ID thanks Noggin)

2 micros and a Scarce Footman

2010-07-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

Carcina quercana

Scarce Footman

Common Footman

Quite a few moths but only these 3 were new

1 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana(NFG)
1 Carcina quercana(NFG)(ID thanks Andy 'Mullmoths')
1 Scarce Footman(NFY)

Yay!!....it's raining!!!

2010-07-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Blackneck

??? micro #1

??? micro # 2

Gold Spot

Common Footman

Poplar Grey

Dot Moth

Lime Speck Pug

Last year when it rained I didn't trap for obvious reasons but this year the rain hasn't stopped me in fact I would say it has helped!, as mentioned in previous posts I place the MBT/funnel trap just inside the back door and the moths seem to be looking for refuge so they fly into the trap by the dozen. Last night was no exception with 131 moths of 48 different species and no less than 6 NFY and 3 NFG....all I have to do now is work out what they all are.

NFG

Blackneck
??? micro #1(Lozotaeniodes formosanus?)
??? micro #2

NFY

Gold Spot
Poplar Grey
Dot Moth
Common Footman
Lime Speck Pug
Common Rustic(no photo)

Only 1 newbie!

2010-07-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

Blood Vein

53 different species in the trap but only the Blood Vein was NFY this time, I got a few photos of the Lime Hawk caterpillars most of which seem to be doing well...only time will tell.

A few more

2010-06-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Large Tabby

Phycitodes binaevella

Scalloped Oak

Small Blood-vein

Another busy night and a few more newbies....

1 Large Tabby(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
1 Phycitodes binaevella(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
2 Scalloped Oak(NFY)
2 Small Blood-vein(NFY)

Rain rain....come again!!

2010-06-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

Clouded Border

Varied Coronet

Bird Cherry Ermine

Orchard Ermine

??? Macro

Lesser Yellow Underwing

I discovered a few months back that when it rains if I place the MBT/funnel trap inside the kitchen door the moths fly in to escape the rain...tonight was forecast for showers at 1am but they started just before 10pm so out came the MBT and it didn't let me down with a haul of 85 moths including what looks to be a Varied Coronet which is a rarity in Derbyshire.
The trap was on from 10:10pm till 3:30am

1 Clouded Border(NFG)
1 Varied Coronet(NFG)(very rare round here!!!)
1 Bird Cherry Ermine(NFG)
1 Orchard Ermine(NFY)
1 ??? macro(NFG)(Confused or maybe Lychnis?)
1 Lesser Yellow Underwing(NFY)
1 Sycamore
1 Miller
1 Small Angle Shades
2 Buff Arches
3 Dark Arches
4 Willow Beauty
3 Brimstone
3 Common Marbled Carpet
9 Riband Wave
2 Common Wave
17 Heart + Dart
11 Uncertain
5 Marbled Minor
1 Tawny Marbled Minor
3 Scoparia Ambigualis
6 Crambus lathoniellus
3 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Common Wainscot
3 Bee Moth

Another 6 new ones

2010-06-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Dingy Shell

Brown China-mark

Small Yellow Wave

Single Dotted Wave

Orthopygia glaucinalis

??? micro

A clear sky, a fairly strong wind and a reasonably full moon but that didn't seem to bother the moths last night and I got 5 more NFG and 1 more NFY

1 Dingy Shell(?)(NFG)
1 Brown China-mark(NFG)
1 Small Yellow Wave(NFG)
1 Single Dotted Wave(NFG)
1 Orthopygia glaucinalis(NFY)
1 ??? micro(NFG)

A few more newbies and a treat

2010-06-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Short-cloaked Moth

Dingy Footman

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

I got my first ever Short-cloaked Moth last night....well my first 4 of them in fact as well as the first Dingy Footman.
I attended the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Amateur Entomologists Society summer show at Shipley country park today and on the way home we stopped at a site near West Hallam which had about 30 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moths flying around, I managed to catch one and I saw quite a few other assorted moths flying around so I will have to go back there and do some 'serious' running around like an idiot waving a net!.

Green Oak Tortrix

2010-06-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Green Oak Tortrix

Light Grey Tortrix?

Fairly quiet here last night and not much new apart from a Green Oak Tortrix and what could possibly be a Light Grey Tortrix.....I got up today to find that the Lime Hawk eggs have started hatching and I now have 30 hungry babies to feed with more hatching as I write.....I'll get some photos if I can.

Pugs'n'micros, Bramble Shoot Moth & The Snout

2010-06-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

The Snout

Currant Pug

??? Pug

??? micro #1

Bramble Shoot Moth

??? micro #3

??? micro #4

Plenty of micros around last night and my first Snout of the year, an assortment of Pugs too a few of which I'm not sure of.

Just the newbies

2010-06-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

Buff Arches

Toadflax Pug?

Common Wave

Yellow Shell

The Clay

I'm getting so many different species that the list would take forever to type so for now I'll just post anything new.
The trap was out from 10pm till 3:20am

1 Buff Arches(NFG)
1 Toadflax Pug(NFG)?
1 Common Wave(NFY)
1 Yellow Shell(NFY)
2 The Clay(NFY)

Not as good as I expected.....but not bad

2010-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Barred Straw

Common Emerald

Swallow Tail

Gothic

Fan Foot

Cyclamen Tortrix

??? #2 micro

Chequered Fruit Tree Tortrix

Epitonia bilunana

Celypha striana

Dipleurina lacustrata

The temperature dropped quite quickly to 12c and stayed there all night with a clear sky so not as many moths around as I was hoping for but several NFG and several NFY made up for it.
The trap was out from 10pm to 3am

8 Light Brown Apple Moth
6 Straw Dot
1 Bee Moth
2 Flame Shoulder
1 A acanthadactyla
1 LYU
4 Riband Wave
3 Common Emerald(NFY)
2 Scalloped Hazel
3 Brimstone
3 Marbled Minor
4 Small Magpie
1 Swallow Tail(NFY)
1 Gothic(NFY)
1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
5 Celypha lacunana
4 Chrysoteuchia culmella
8 Crambus lathoniellus
11 Heart + Dart
6 Willow Beauty
2 Dark Arches
1 Cabbage Moth
1 Figure of Eighty
1 P coronata
2 Barred Straw(NFG)
1 Flame
1 Cyclamen Tortrix(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
1 ??? #2 micro(NFG)
2 Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
3 Epinotia bilunana(NFG)
1 Celypha striana (NFG)(ID thanks Matt)
4 Scoparia Amigualis
2 Small Dusty Wave
3 Uncertain
3 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Plum Tortrix
2 Fan Foot(NFG)
1 Monopis obviella
1 Dusky Brocade
1 Dipleurina lacustrata(NFG)(ID thanks Matt)

At least 5 NFG

2010-06-21T05:36:00.000-07:00

Barred Yellow

Light Emerald

Meal Moth

Red Barred Tortrix

Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix

?? #1 micro

?? #2 macro

Pale Shouldered Brocade

20/6
It stayed at 12c, it got cloudy and the moon had gone by midnight so a busy nights trapping followed....shame it was the second shortest night of the year!. So many new species and I can't ID all of them yet so if anyone can give me some clues please do.
The trap was out from 10:10pm till 3:20am

1 Barred Yellow(NFG)
1 Light Emerald(NFG)
1 Red Barred Tortrix(NFG)
1 Meal Moth(NFG)(ID thanks Matt)
1 Barred Fruit -Tree Tortrix(NFG)
1 ?? #1 micro(NFG)?
1 ?? #2 macro(NFG)?(could be Ingrailed Clay var or Brocade?)
1Pale Shouldered Brocade
3 Dark Arches
1 Elephant Hawk
21 Heart + Dart
4 Marbled Minor
9 Crambus lathoniellus
9 Light Brown Apple Moth
3 Plum Tortrix
2 Brimstone
6 Willow Beauty
1 Scorched Wing
1 Small Magpie
2 Straw Dot
2 Bee Moth
2 Small Dusty Wave
1 LYU
1 Silver-Y
1 Buff Ermine
1 Freyer's Pug
1 Foxglove Pug
6 Uncertain
2 Middle Barred Minor
3 A acanthadactyla
1 Udea Olivalis
2 Bright-line Brown-eye
1 Spectacle
1 Small Fan-foot
2 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Rustic Shoulder Knot
2 Scoparia ambigualis
5 Chrysoteuchia culmella

I also got several badly worn macros and half a dozen washed out Pugs!

The Drinker & Dark Arches

2010-06-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Drinker

Dark Arches

Tawny Marbled Minor

Marbled Minor

Thursday 17/6
The warmest night for a week or two so a reasonable haul for a change, Marbled Minor made a return with the whiter form showing up as well as another Tawny Marbled Minor which is proving difficult to get a decent photograph of. New for my garden was a beautiful Drinker and new for this year was Dark Arches.
The trap was out from 10pm till 3:15am

2 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Brimstone
1 P. coronata
1 Monopis obviella
6 Plum Tortrix
2 Flame
1 Small Angle Shades
1 Angle Shades
1 Elephant Hawk
17 Heart + Dart
4 Willow Beauty
1 Dark Arches(NFY)
1 Drinker(NFG)
2 Small Magpie
3 Bee Moth
1 Small Fan-foot
2 Straw Dot
1 LYU
3 Marbled Minor
1 Tawny Marbled Minor
3 Uncertain
2 Riband Wave
6 Crambus lathoniellus

Green Pug, Seraphim & Uncertain?

2010-06-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

Seraphim

Green Pug

Uncertain

I've fallen behind a bit on my blog reports so I will try to catch up starting with Wednesday 16/6
Slightly warmer and slightly busier night with a few more NFG species arriving as well as 1 NFY.
The trap was out from 10pm to 3am

3 Brimstone
1 Bee Moth
4 Plum Tortrix
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Small Angle Shades
14 Heart + Dart
2 Common Marbled Carpet
3 Willow Beauty
1 Cloded Silver
2 Mottled Pug
1 Foxglove Pug
1 Green Pug(NFG)
1 Straw Dot
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
2 Bright-line Brown-eye
1 LYU
1 Seraphim(NFG)
2 Uncertain(NFY)?

The Flame, Plum Tortrix, Udea olivalis

2010-06-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Plum Tortrix

Udea olivalis

The Flame

It dropped to 6c after a warm day so not a lot in the trap in total but 3 NFG species made up for that, the female Lime Hawk has now flown away so I am waiting hopefully to see if any of the eggs she left behind actually hatch.
The trap was out from 9:50pm to 2:30am

1 Cabbage Moth
1 Spectacle
11 Heart + Dart
1 Silver-Y
1 Garden Pebble
2 Brimstone
1 Willow Beauty
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Bee Moth
1 Garden Carpet
1 Buff Ermine
1 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 The Flame(NFG)
1 Udea olivalis(NFG)
3 Plum Tortrix(NFG)

Lime Hawk update

2010-06-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

2 days ago I put the female Lime Hawk (mentioned in my last post) in my garage and expected her to fly off at dusk, I went out to check at 10:30pm and found she was still there along with 8 more eggs which I collected and have placed in a rearing tub. Last night I went out to check on her again and got another surprise....she had a 'gentleman caller' shall we say and he erm stayed the night!, I went out there half an hour ago and witnessed the amazing spectacle of her laying eggs....95+ of them!!. I now have over 100 Lime Hawk eggs so it looks like I'm going to need a bigger fish tank!. :0)

Limey luck

2010-06-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Cyril, my 94 year old next door neighbour called frantically over the fence for my help....I didn't quite catch what he had said but my wife translated it as 'it's too big so I'm not touching it'....I ran round there as fast as I could to see what the problem was and to my astonished joy Cyril had found a beautiful female Lime Hawk in his shed and to top that she had laid 2 eggs!!!

Elvaston Castle update

2010-06-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Scoparia ambigualis

Nemophora degeerella

Ptycholoma lecheana

Common Wave

Silver Ground Carpet

Apotomis turbidana

I'm still visiting Elvaston Castle Country Park regularly during the day and I've been finding the best places for trapping, I stumbled across one area which appears to have a colony of Silver Ground Carpet....I counted 25 but there were so many of them it was difficult to keep up. In that same area I also found Common Wave & Scoparia Ambigualis and in other areas I have found 2 more micros....Nemophora degeerella and Ptycholoma lecheana(ID thanks Harri). I've just got back from another visit during which I saw approx 20 N.Degeerella, the first Agonopterix heracliana for the site and a Apotomis turbidana(ID thanks Harri).

Buff Tip, The Sycamore & Dusky Brocade

2010-06-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Dusky Brocade

The Sycamore

Buff Tip

Once again it rained all evening so once again I decided to put the MBT just inside the back door and once again I was amazed by the moths that showed up, I got several of the usual obvious species then a Green Silver Lines showed up closely followed by an Eyed Hawk. I found a Sycamore on the back door and as I was potting it up I saw what I thought was a bee looking out from under the rim of the trap lid.....on closer inspection it turned out to be the biggest Buff Tip I've ever seen with a wingspan of approx 60mm.
The trap was on from 10pm till 3:20am

4 Scalloped Hazel
1 Small Magpie
1 Buff Ermine
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 Ingrailed Clay
2 Brimstone
4 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Eyed Hawk
1 The Sycamore(NFG)(ID thanks Steve)
1 Buff Tip(NFY)
1 Tawny Marbled Minor?(NFG)(No photo yet!)
1 Green Silver Lines
1 Bright-line Brown-eye
2 Willow Beauty
1 Riband Wave
1 Freyer's Pug
2 Garden Carpet
6 Heart + Dart
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Dusky Brocade(NFG)(ID thanks Skev)

Small Rivulet, Small Dusty Wave & Miller

2010-06-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

The Miller

Small Rivulet

Small Dusty Wave

Common Wainscot

Angle Shades

A busy night again but a lot of unrecognisable moths (probably due to the heavy rain showers last night?) and very few micros, I did however get 3 new species for the garden and 2 new for the year.
The trap was out from 9:50pm till 3:10am

1 Lime Hawk
4 Brimstone
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
5 Common Marbled Carpet
14 Heart + Dart
2 Spectacle
1 Large Yellow Underwing
2 Foxglove Pug
1 Angle Shades(NFY)
1 Common Wainscot(NFY)
1 Miller(NFG)
1 Small Rivulet(NFG)
1 Small DustyWave(NFG)
3 Buff Ermine
1 Small Square Spot
4 Rustic Shoulder Knot
3 Cloaked Minor
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Broken Barred Carpet
2 Straw Dot
1 Willow Beauty
1 Small Magpie
1 Garden Carpet

Sunshine after the rain(micro climate?)

2010-06-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

??? micro#1

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Monopis obviella

It got very warm and muggy this evening but the 'showers' forecast for 7pm didn't come so I started getting things ready to put the trap out at 9:45, at 9:50 a loud clap of thunder was followed by a serious downpour which lasted for a good half hour and was then followed by another 2 downpours separated by drizzle. Not giving up altogether I put a table lamp with an energy saving bulb in the kitchen window and a few micros turned up, once the rain had stopped I put the MBT/funnel trap just inside the back door and to my surprise the moths soon came to visit(the wife will kill me in the morning when she sees the kitchen is full of moths!!).
The lamp/trap was on from 11:25pm till 3:30am

2 Green Carpet
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Brown House Moth
1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
2 Brimstone
1 Willow Beauty
1 Campion
1 Scalloped Hazel
1 Silver-Y
1 Poplar Hawk
5 Heart + Dart
2 Small Magpie
1 Cloaked Minor
2 Pale Tussock
1 Mottled Pug
3 other pugs(but it's difficult to ID them when they're resting on the kitchen ceiling!)
1 ??? micro#1(NFG)
1 Chrysoteuchia culmella(NFG)(ID thanks Skev)
1 Monopis obviella(NFG)(ID thanks Harri)

Scorched Wing, Small Square Spot? & Crambus lathoniellus?

2010-06-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

Scorched Wing

Middle-barred Minor

Small Square Spot

Crambus lathoniellus?

Ingrailed Clay

Straw Dot(got it right this time Matt!!)

A very warm night but not a huge amount of moths around considering...a lot of flies, caddis flies and beetles though!
The trap was out from 9:50pm till 3:15am

7 Light Brown Apple Moth
5 Brimstone
1 Pale Tussock
3 Straw Dot(NFY)
1 Bee Moth
7 Common Marbled Carpet
2 Green Carpet
2 Spruce Carpet
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Small Fan-foot
6 Willow Beauty
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
2 Scalloped Hazel
1 Silver Cloud
1 Large Yellow Underwing
3 Bright-line Brown-eye
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 Garden Carpet
3 Mottled Pug
4 of the unidentified pug from last night?
10 Heart + Dart
1 Elephant Hawk
1 Scorched Wing(NFG)
2 Small Square Spot?(NFG)
1 Codling Moth
2 Crambus lathoniellus?(NFG)
1 Large Clover Case Bearer
1 Celypha lacunana
1 Scoparia amigualis
3 Cochylis atricapitana
2 Epiblema cynosbatella
1 Ingrailed Clay(NFG)
1 Middle-barred Minor(NFG)

Figure of Eighty, Cloaked Minor and some more ????s

2010-06-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

Pale Shouldered Brocade?

Marbled Minor

Turnip Moth

Figure of Eighty

Gold Swift?

???#1 micro

Freyer's Pug

Cooler and quieter tonight but a few newbies turned up, problem is this time I can't ID most of them!, the Figure of Eighty is easy enough and the Cloaked Minor I'm pretty sure of but a few of the macros the micro and the Pug are tough ones and I'm not sure about the Gold Swift....it's not common and it's not Orange so it must be Gold....mustn't it?.

The trap was out from 9:55pm to 3:10am

3 Brimstone

2 Common Swift

1 Gold Swift?(see photo)(NFG)

4 Common Marbled Carpet

1 Green Carpet

1 Broken Barred Carpet

1 Willow Beauty

2 Shuttle Shaped Dart

7 Heart + Dart

1 Marbled Minor

1 Figure of Eighty

6 Rustic Shoulder Knot
3 Light Brown Apple Moth

1 Codling Moth

2 Mottled Pug

1 Common Pug

1 Freyer's Pug(ID thanks Denise)(NFG)

2 Epiblema Cynosbatella

1 ??? micro(poss Clover Case Bearer?)

1 Pale Shouldered Brocade?(NFG)

2 Turnip Moth(NFG)

Overwhelmed again!!

2010-06-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Green Silver Lines

Another warm night at last and another night of chasing round the garden with a net, potting things up and taking lots of photos. Several 'new for year' species including Setaceous Hebrew Character, Riband Wave and Willow Beauty as well as several 'new for garden' including Brown Silver Lines, Buff Ermine, a fantastic looking Green Silver Lines and an assortment of unidentified micros.
The trap was out from 9:45pm to 3:25am

6 Light brown Apple Moth
5 Brimstone
4 Shuttle Shaped Dart
2 Codling Moth
1 Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet
7 Mottled Pug
5 Common Pug
2 Bright-line Brown-eye
7 Heart + Dart
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 Lime Hawk
3 Garden Carpet
1 Green Carpet
2 Willow Beauty(NFY)
3 Bee Moth
1 Brown Silver Lines(NFG)
6 Common Marbled Carpet
2 Campion
1 Setaceous Hebrew Character(NFY)
1 Green Silver Lines(NFG)
1 Buff Ermine(NFG)
1 Garden Pebble(NFY)(thanks Matt)
1 Dot Moth(NFY)(no photo)
1 Silver-Y
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Iron Prominent
1 Scalloped Hazel
1 Riband Wave(NFY)
3 Argyresthia trifasciata
7 Epiblema cynosbatella
1 Spruce Carpet
3 Cherry Bark Moth(NFG)
2 Celypha lacunana(NFG)
1 micro#3(NFG)
2 Large Clover Case bearer(NFG)

Cherry-Bark Moth

Celypha lacunana

micro #3

Large Clover-case Bearer

Willow Beauty

Garden Pebble

Riband Wave

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Brown Silver Lines

Buff Ermine

Elephant Hawk & Small Angle Shades

2010-06-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Small Angle Shades

Elephant Hawk

Under normal circumstances I would have said tonight was rubbish for moth trapping, it dropped to 7c and there wasn't much about...but what I did catch made it well worth the effort!!. When I first trapped back in the early 1970s I regularly caught Elephant Hawk moths so it was nice to get the first one for my garden and it was a beauty, I must admit though that for looks it was a close run contest because the other new moth for my garden was also strikingly beautiful.....Small Angle Shades.
The trap was out from 9:35pm to 3:30am

1 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Brimstone
1 Elephant Hawk(NFG)
1 Green Carpet
1 Small Angle Shades(NFG)
1 Mottled Pug
1 Common Pug
1 Oak Hook Tip
5 Heart + Dart

Common Swift & Cabbage Moth

2010-05-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

It stayed at 10c and the rain predicted for 1am didn't arrive so I had a reasonable night with Common Swift new for my garden and my first Cabbage Moth of the year which takes me to over 100 garden species for this year. I also got a micro I'm not sure of and a Pug that looks different to me but having said that you could probably line up 10 of the same type of Pug and they would all look different in some way.

Nemophora metallica

??? micro#1

??? Pug#1

Cabbage Moth

Common Swift

I've also included a photo of Nemophora metallica which I caught earlier today at Elvaston Castle country park....you can easily see why they call them 'longhorn' moths.
The trap was out from 9:30pm to 3:20am

3 Light Brown Apple Moth
3 Brimstone
1 Common Swift(NFG)
1 Green Carpet
1 Cabbage Moth(NFY)
3 Flame Shoulder
1 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Pale Tussock
2 Mottled Pug
1 Common Pug
1 Ochreous Pug
2 Scalloped Hazel
1 Scalloped Hazel(f.nigra)
8 Heart + Dart
3 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Bright-line Brown-eye
7 Rustic Shoulder Knot
2 Garden Carpet
1 Tinea trinotella
2 Argyresthia trifasciata
1 ??? micro#1
1 ??? Pug#1

Oak Hook-Tip, Small Magpie & another ???? micro

2010-05-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

Incurvaria oehlmanniella

Small Magpie

Oak Hook-tip

Cooler and quieter again but still a few new faces for the year as well as another new micro, from the 2 diamond shapes on it's back you would think it might be a Diamond-back Moth but life couldn't be that simple now could it?.

The trap was out from 9:40pm till 3:45am

1 Poplar Hawk
2 Brimstone

2 Scalloped Hazel
2 Flame Shoulder
2 Common Pug
3 Mottled Pug
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 Heart + Dart
1 Epiblema cynosbatella

1 Pale Tussock

2 Common Marbled Carpet

1 Campion

1 Oak Hook-tip(NFY)

1 Small Magpie(NFY)
1 E. Monodactyla

4 Small Brown Apple Moth

1 Incurvaria oehlmanniella(ID thanks Ben)

Silver-Y, Marbled Beauty, Phlyctaenia coronata & 127 Argyresthia Trifasciata

2010-05-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

Broken Barred Carpet

Silver Y

Common Marbled Carpet

Marbled Beauty

Phlyctaenia coronata

Ethmia quadrillella

Phtheochroa rugosana

Syndemis musculana

Pseudoswammerdamia combinella

Another warm night = another busy night with a lot of micros in comparison to the macros.....a few new year ticks, a few new garden ticks and 127 Argyresthia Trifasciata invading the trap(and that was just the ones I managed to find) meant the trap took a while to empty.
I did manage to get a photo of a Common Marbled Carpet this time and another Carpet moth I'm not sure of plus the usual random micros, I'm pretty sure one is a Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix but the others I'm holding out on guessing at.
The trap was out from 9:40pm till 3:30am

127 Argyresthia Trifasciata
9 Light Brown Apple Moth
4 Waved Umber
3 Flame Shoulder
3 Brimstone
3 Bee Moth
3 Heart + Dart
3 Common Marbled Carpet
2 Green Carpet
3 Garden Carpet
1 Common Carpet
3 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Lime Hawk
2 Codling Moth
2 Ancylis Badiana
2 E. Monodactyla
1 Pyrausta aurata
2 Scalloped Hazel
1 Silver-Y(NFY)
1 Phlyctaenia coronata(NFY)
1 Marbled Beauty(NFY)
1 Pale Tussock
1 Bright-line Brown-eye
2 Rustic Shoulder Knot
2 Brown House Moth
1 Tinea trinotella
1 Small Fan-foot
3 Epiblema cynosbatella
3 Common Pug
4 Mottled Pug
1 Syndemis musculana(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
1 Broken Barred Carpet(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
1 Ethmia quadrillella(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
2 Phtheochroa rugosana(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)
1 Pseudoswammerdamia combinella(NFG)(ID thanks Ben)

The calm after the storm

2010-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Flame Shoulder

Campion

Much quieter again tonight even though the temperature stayed around 11c but it was clear-ish skies and that moon again spoiling my fun, I still managed to get a couple of 'new for year' ticks for my garden namely Campion and Flame Shoulder.
The trap was out from 9:45pm till 3:30am

3 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Chinese Character
1 Muslin Moth
3 Scalloped Hazel
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Bee Moth
1 Heart + Dart
1 Campion
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Early Grey
3 Common Pug
1 Common Carpet
1 Dark/Grey Dagger
1 Least Black Arches
1 Pale Tussock

Not so busy tonight

2010-05-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

Lime Hawk

Cochylis atricapitana

Agapeta hamana

Eudonia truncicolella

????#1 micro

Peppered Moth

Codling Moth

Spruce Carpet

I was out till midnight so I left the MBT set up ready for my wife to plug in once it started getting dark(9:30 apparently!), when I got back there wasn't much in the trap so I got the MV out and swapped them over. I was curious to see if the MBT caught anything the MV hasn't had recently but apart from 1 micro there wasn't anything different in there. It was a few degrees cooler at 12c and the sky was clear with a fairly bright half moon so it wasn't as busy as Wednesday night but a few new micros my first Codling and Peppered Moth of the year as well as another Lime Hawk(much nicer) made it all worthwhile.

MBT out from 9:30pm till 12:10am

1 Poplar Kitten

1 Waved Umber

1 Pine Beauty

1 Hebrew Character

1 ???#1 micro

MV out from 12:15 to 3:30am

1 Lime Hawk

1 Waved Umber

1 Brimstone

1 Peppered Moth(NFY)

1 Spruce Carpet

3 Common Carpet

3 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Codling Moth(NFY)

1 Brindled Pug

3 Common Pug

2 Foxglove Pug

1 Bright-line Brown-eye

2 Rustic Shoulder Knot

3 Argyresthia trifasciata

2 Eudonia augustea(NFG?)

1 Agapeta hamana(NFG)

1 Cochylis atricapitana(NFG)

It was still 14c at 3am!...how well do you think I did?

2010-05-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Pyrausta Aurata

Poplar Hawk

Lime Hawk

Brimstone

Argyresthia trifasciata

Tinea trinotella

Ocherous Pug

Eyed Hawk

Small Fan Foot

Green Carpet

Mottled Pug

Bee Moth(female)

Bee Moth(male)

Agnopterix arenella

Esperia Sulphella

Pale Prominent

It was like that dream...you know the one...where there are so many moths you can't cope, every time you get one in the net two more appear before you've had time to pot it....you have to keep nipping inside to take photos because you keep running out of pots...etc....
It started well and it got better with the temperature only dropping one degree in 6 hours....I won't waffle any more just look at the photos and the list(though it has to be said I failed to get any photos of a few a I got such bad photos of 3 micros they are impossible to ID so the list should be bigger but it was too hectic to keep up with everything). The Lime Hawk was very worn and looked a bit 'scary' because of it but the other 2 Hawks looked very fresh

The trap was out from 9:30pm till 3:15am

8 Light Brown Apple Moth
4 Waved Umber
5 Pale Tussock
4 Common Pug
5 Mottled Pug
3 Brindled Pug
1 Ocherous Pug(ID thanks Ben)
1 Grey/Dark Dagger
1 Green Carpet(NFY)
2 Common Carpet(NFY)
1 Common Marbled Carpet(NFY)(no photo)
1 Spruce Carpet(NFY)
5 Bee Moth(NFY)
1 Lime Hawk(NFG)
1 Poplar Hawk(NFY)
1 Eyed Hawk(NFG)
1 Early Grey
2 Brimstone(NFY)
3 Twenty Plume
2 Brown House Moth
1 Bright-line Brown-eye
3 Rustic Shoulder Knot
1 Scalloped Hazel
1 E. Monodactyla
3 Micropterix Calthella
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Epiblema Cynosbastella
1 Pyrausta Aurata(NFY)
1 Esperia Sulphella(NFG)
1 Pale Prominent(NFY)
1 Mother Of Pearl(NFY)(no photo!)
1 Tinea trinotella(ID thanks Ben)
1 Argyresthia trifasciata(ID thanks Skev)
1 Agonopterix arenella(ID thanks Matt)
1 Small Fan-Foot(NFG)

Heart + Dart & Scalloped Hazel(f.nigra) plus a couple more Pugs

2010-05-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Pug ?#1

Pug ?#2

Scalloped Hazel(f.nigra)

Heart + Dart

9c all night so more moths around specially micros but I got a few interesting macros too including my first Heart + Dart of the year and a lovely Scalloped Hazel(f.nigra), I got a couple of Pugs I'm unsure of so I thought I would add photos to see if anyone can help ID them?
The trap was out from 9:40pm till 4am

3 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Epiblema cynosbatella
2 Micropterix Calthella
1 Twenty Plume
3 E. Monodactyla
3 Common Pug
1 Pug ?#1
1 Pug?#2
1 Scalloped Hazel
1 Scalloped Hazel(f.nigra)(NFG)
1 Heart + Dart(NFY)
1 Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet
1 Waved Umber
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart

Clouded Silver, Ancylis Badiana & Rustic Shoulder Knot

2010-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Clouded Silver

Pale Tussock(variation)

Ancylis Badiana

Rustic Shoulder Knot

The temperature stayed at 7c so I did reasonably well with at least 3 new species turning up tonight, I also got a couple of quite different looking Pale Tussock moths. The Clouded Silver, Rustic Shoulder Knot and Ancylis Badiana are all new for my garden.
The trap was out from 9:45pm till 4:15am

4 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Waved Umber
1 Ancylis Badiana
1 Clouded Silver
2 Pale Tussock
1 E. Monodactyla
1 Micropterix Calthella
1 Rustic Shoulder Knot(ID thanks Ben)

Elvaston Castle Country Park(NMN)

2010-05-16T02:14:00.000-07:00

Flame Shoulder

??????? Pug

Pebble Prominent

Flame Carpet

Not ideal conditions but I've been wanting to trap at 'Elvo Castle' for years so it was a treat no matter what happened, as it turned out (after a slow start) I did ok. I started off the evening running 2 traps(MV & MBT) and the MBT was winning for a while but after midnight the MV took over and by 1am I had turned the MBT off to save petrol. I ended up with 22 moths of 10 different species but just wait till the weather improves and I get back there!!. Thanks to Graham and everyone from the 'Friends Of Elvaston Castle' for coming along, thanks to Steve Thorpe(and Jordan) for coming along and thanks to Andy Laxton for letting me trap there!!.

Trap 1(MBT) 9:30pm till 1am

2 Waved Umber
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
3 Micropterix Calthella
1 Flame Shoulder
1 Unidentified(very worn)

Trap 2(MV) 9:30pm till 4am

1 Pebble Prominent
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Flame Carpet
3 Flame Shoulder
6 Micropterix Calthella
1 Muslin Moth
1 Least Black Arches
1 ?????? Pug(see photo above)

Epiblema cynosbatella, Powdered Quaker? & L.Y.U.

2010-05-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Epiblema cynosbatella

Powdered Quaker

LYU

It stayed a bit warmer than last night(7c at 3am) but still not many moths around, I got what I think is a Plum Tortix but it could be Marbled Orchard Tortix so please correct me if I'm wrong(Dean has now pointed out that it's neither of those species, it is in fact a Epiblema cynosbatella...thanks Dean). Also turning up to make a nuisance of itself was the first Large Yellow Underwing of the year which did the usual LYU thing and bashed about in the trap for about 35 minutes till it finally ran out of energy....I'm so looking forward to those summer evenings when there are 30+ of the little blighters in the trap each night......NOT!. I also got what I'm hoping is a Powdered Quaker, it was certainly a lot paler than the Common Quakers but as I've never seen a P.Q. I'm not sure.
The trap was out from 9:25pm till 3:30am

1 Grey/Dark Dagger
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Common Pug
1 Scalloped Hazel(much smaller than last nights!)
1 Epiblema cynosbatella(NFG)(ID thanks Dean)
1 Powdered Quaker?(NFG)
1 Large Yellow Underwing(NFY)

Scalloped Hazel

2010-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Scalloped Hazel

Still not a lot about and the temperature dropped to 4c soon after midnight but I did get a Scalloped Hazel which is new for my garden so it wasn't too bad.
The trap was out from 9:25pm to 3am

1 Twenty Plume
1 Chinese Character
2 Common Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 A. Acanthadactyla
1 Waved Umber
1 Scalloped Hazel(NFG)

Muslin & Least Black Arches

2010-05-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

You would think that leaving the trap out for 5 hours and only getting 2 moths might be a tad disappointing but as they are both new species for my garden and very attractive moths I am far from disappointed.
The trap was out from 9:15pm to 2:15am

1 Muslin Moth
1 Least Black Arches

Poplar Kitten, Spectacle, Dark Sword Grass & Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet

2010-05-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Poplar Kitten

Spectacle

Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet

Dark Sword Grass

The temperature stayed at 9c and the drizzle, which should have arrived at 1am according to all the weather reports didn't materialise so I had a decent night of trapping with 3 new species for the year as well as 1 new one for my garden.
The trap was out from 9pm to 3am

1 Poplar Kitten(NFY)
1 Pale Tussock
3 common Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 Spectacle(NFY)
3 Micropterix Calthella
1 E. Monodactyla
2 A. Acanthadactyla
3 Waved Umber
1 Garden Carpet
1 Dark Barred Twin Spot Carpet(NFG)
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart(1st female this year!)
1 Hebrew Charcter
1 Dark Sword Grass(NFY)

Swallow Prominent

2010-04-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

It rained till 1am which meant I didn't put the trap out but at 2am-ish I let one of the dogs out into the garden and I thought I might as well nip out for a look around.....I found this resting on the wall! :0))

More unexpected arrivals.....

2010-04-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ruby Tiger

Iron Prominent

Chinese Character

Clouded Drab

Lead-Coloured Drab

Grey/Dark Dagger

Chocolate Tip

Plenty of moths around tonight thanks to the mild weather so a lot of time was spent potting things up to study....mainly pugs!, I did see several more familiar faces from last year with the first Ruby Tiger, Iron Prominent and Chinese Character of the year and a rather surprising Grey/Dark Dagger turned up too. I also got what I hope is a Lead-Coloured Drab but it could be a Clouded Drab(?) as could the other example I got, if either of them are Lead-Coloured that's a new one for my garden. As if all that wasn't enough for one night I also got a Chocolate Tip which is unusual for this part of the country but hey....I'm not complaining :0).

The trap was out from 8pm to 4am

1 Early Grey
1 Ruby Tiger
1 Iron Prominent
1 Waved Umber
1 Purple Thorn
2 Pine Beauty
1 Garden Carpet
2 Twenty Plume
1 Early Thorn
1 Chinese Character
1 Brindled Beauty
1 Herald
1 Shuttle Shaped Dart
1 Grey/Dark Dagger
2 E. Monodactyla
3 A. Acanthadactyla
7 Micropterix Calthella
1 Lead-Coloured Drab
1 Clouded Drab
1 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Hebrew Character
4 Common Pug
1 Foxglove Pug
1 Double Striped Pug
1 Chocolate Tip

Small Phoenix

2010-04-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

I had a lot to do last night so the trap stayed out later than expected and had quite a few moths in it when I cleared away, the only newbie was a very fresh Small Phoenix which was stunning....it was also nice to see Waved Umber and Pine Beauty again.
The trap was out from 8:50pm to 4:20am

4 Early Grey
4 Common Quaker
2 Waved Umber
1 Pine Beauty
1 Garden Carpet
2 Early Thorn
1 Small Phoenix
1 Micropterix Calthella
2 Light Brown Apple Moth
2 Double Striped Pug
2 Common Pug

Micros & Pugs Night

2010-04-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Brindled Pug?

Common Pug

Light Brown Apple Moth?

Micropterix Calthella

Much colder tonight with the temperature down to 4c by 2am but I got a few things in the trap which included a few Pugs and some interesting micros. The first micro I'm guessing is just a Light Brown Apple Moth but with a different patternation to the ones I usually get, the second is Micropterix Calthella which I have found locally but never in my back garden before. The Pugs I should know better than to guess at but it has to be said I think the first one could be Brindled and the second one could be a White Spotted so I'll risk that until someone tells me I'm wrong....again!.

The trap was out from 8:45pm till 3:15am

2 Early Grey

1 Common Quaker

1 Early Thorn

2 Double Striped Pug

1 Common Pug

3 Micropterix Calthella
1 E.Monodactyla

1 Light Brown Apple Moth

Bright-line Brown-Eye

2010-04-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Bright-line Brown-eye

A bit cooler than last night with a clear sky and a bright moon so it was a lot quieter but still a bit of action around the trap with my first 2 Bright-line Brown-eye of 2010, I saw one of these last year so it's not a new moth for the garden but I hope to see a lot of familiar species again before the end of the year so I can beat last years 115 garden ticks.
The trap was out from 8:15pm to 3:45am

2 Bright-line Brown-eye
2 Early Grey
1 Common Quaker
1 Clouded Drab
1 E. Monodactyla
2 Large Brown Apple Moth
1 Common Pug

2 Double Striped Pug

Waved Umber, Pine Beauty, Purple Thorn etc....

2010-04-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Shuttle Shaped Dart

Common Pug

Pine Beauty

Foxglove Pug?

Waved Umber

Purple Thorn

Pale Tussock

It's quite astonishing how just a few extra degrees on the thermometer can make such a huge difference to a nights trapping!, it stayed at 10c till well after midnight and had only dropped to 7c by the time I got the trap in. The night started with Pugs again but by 9:30 every time I went out to look I found another new species for my garden starting with a Waved Umber which was quickly followed by a Pine Beauty then a Purple Thorn then something I haven't managed to positively ID yet(Pale Tussock!). In amongst all the Pugs in the trap I found 2 of what I think is a Foxglove Pug along with another Pug which is another new one for my garden(Common Pug). A good amount of new species as well as some familiar faces which included the first Shuttle Shaped Dart of the year.

The trap was out from 8:35pm till 3:30am

8 Double Striped Pug

2 Foxglove Pug?

1 Common Pug(ID thanks Ben)?

1 Waved Umber

1 Pine Beauty

1 Pale Tussock(ID thanks Ben)

1 Common Quaker

1 Small Quaker

1 Hebrew Character

1 Shuttle Shaped Dart

2 Early Grey

2 Purple Thorn

2 Brindled Beauty

4 Clouded Drab

2 E. Monodactyla

1 Agonopterix Hercliana

2 Caloptiia Stigmatella

Double-Striped Pugs and a Garden Carpet

2010-04-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Garden Carpet

It didn't stay as warm as promised but that didn't stop the Pugs from coming to visit, there looked to be 2 distinct species but it's so difficult to tell them apart and I'm guessing it will be a while before I can speak fluent Pug so I just called them Pug 1 and Pug 2 for now(Ben Sales has now informed me that they are all Double-Striped!). I also got my first Garden Carpet of the year which flew into the spare bedroom as opposed to the trap but it was still nice to see it.
The trap was out from 8:15pm to 3:30am

2 Early Grey
2 Early Thorn
1 Clouded Drab
1 Common Quaker
1 Herald
1 Garden Carpet
5 Double-Striped Pug
1 Twenty Plume
1 E. Monodactyla

Elvaston Castle Country Park May 15th(NMN) an invitiation

2010-04-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

With the kind permission of the head ranger at Elvaston Castle I have manged to get the go ahead to trap there on May 15th which as I'm sure you all know is National Moth Night. If anyone is interested in coming along please contact me at jane.eons@sky.com so I can keep the head ranger updated on how many people are likely to turn up on the night.
Elvaston Castle is at the Leicester/Nottingham side of Derby and easy enough to get to and there will be car parking spaces available on the night. The country park area is mainly woodland with flower gardens and a small nature reserve, as there is a chance that it could all be getting turned into a golf course in the near future this could be one of the last chances to find out what's there.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=elvaston+castle+country+park&sll=52.913871,-1.393204&sspn=0.091921,0.22007&ie=UTF8&hq=elvaston+castle+country+park&hnear=&ll=52.892632,-1.395199&spn=0.005748,0.013754&t=h&z=16

Twenty-plume Moth

2010-04-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

Not exactly a warm evening but impatience and the fact that I can't trap tomorrow night got the better of me and I put the trap out, I ended up with 12 moths most of which appear to be the same ones everyone else is getting(fed up of). Hiding at the bottom of the trap and very nearly missed was a micro which I'm guessing is a Twenty-plume Moth but I could be wrong....again!
The trap was out from 8:10pm to 3am

5 Early Grey
2 Common Quaker
1 Small Quaker
2 Hebrew Character
1 Clouded Drab
1 Twenty-plume

Agonopterix alstromeriana & Caloptilia stigmatella

2010-04-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

The temperature stayed at 9c till nearly 1am and by the time I cleared away it was still just above 5c, the biggest catch so far this year and I got a couple of new micros to add to my list....the first one I know is Agonopterix alstromeriana and the second one is a Caloptilia but I'm not sure which one(it's not Elongella this time).
The trap was out from 8pm to 3:30am

12 Common Quaker
4 Small Quaker
12 Early Grey
5 Clouded Drab
2 Hebrew Character
2 Double Striped Pug
1 Emmelina Monodactyla
1 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla
1 Early Thorn
1 Agonopterix alstromeriana
1 Caloptilia stigmatella(ID thanks Skev)

Grey Shoulder Knot

2010-04-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple of hours today wandering from tree to tree at Elvaston Castle looking for Diurnea fagella in the hope that I might find Semioscopis avellanella or Semioscopis steinkellneriana but I was unlucky which is particularly annoying because last week I did find S. Avellanella but I didn't realise at the time what it was so I didn't get a photo....D'oh!. After the fantastic warm(16c) day we had it cooled down rapidly to 5c but I still got a reasonable catch which included my first Grey Shoulder Knot of the year, I got this species last year too so it's not a first for my garden.
The trap was out from 8pm to 3:15am

6 Common Quaker
5 Early Grey
3 Hebrew Character
1 Clouded Drab
1 Diurnea Fagella
1 Light Brown Apple Moth
1 Twin-Spotted Quaker
1 Grey Shoulder Knot

Tawny Pinion

2010-04-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

It was the warmest evening in Derby for quite a few months and things got off to an interesting start with a fly invasion closely followed by a micro stampede and eventually followed by an influx of macros. A few of the micros I recognise but 2 of them I'm not familiar with so some ID help will be needed(bottom 2 photos). I got my first Pug(Brindled?) of the year, first Carpet moth of the year(Red-Green) and what turned out to be my first Tawny Pinion ever as well as at least one of almost every different moth species I have seen in the last few weeks.
The trap was out from 8pm till 3:30am

4 Emmelina Monodactyla
2 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla
1 Double Striped Pug(ID thanks Ben)
7 Caloptilia Elongella(ID thanks Skev)
2 Epermenia Chaerophyllella.(ID thanks Skev)
1 Brindled Beauty
1 Early Thorn
1 Tawny Pinion(ID thanks Ben)
1 Red-Green Carpet
2 Hebrew Character
1 Clouded Drab
4 Early Grey
7 Common Quaker

Ready for the busy season?

2010-04-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last year I started off with an energy saving light bulb, a few bits of broom handle and an old sheet...this was a similar set up to the one I used when I first trapped back in the early 1970s and it worked ok but things have moved on since then so I had to move on too. I made my own Skinner type trap and got some MBT electrics....the amount of moths I was trapping quadrupled, I now also have a MV and actinic system so I can keep up with the changing seasons BUT no matter how many moths I catch some of them have a habit of flying away the second I take the top off the trap(specially if there are a lot of over excitable Large Yellow Underwings in there too!). This obviously proved to be frustrating on many more than one occasion, 'losing' a moth before I had a chance to ID and get a photo of it meant that my records didn't really show the correct numbers or possibly all of the different species I had actually trapped so this year I have taken a few steps to try to avoid it happening again. I looked on eBay and found a freestanding tent style mosquito net(see photo above) which I will be setting up in my garage, I can go inside to empty the trap and even if something does escape it wont get far, this should lead to some interesting comedy moments if there's a wasp in the trap but that's a risk worth taking. If you think this is a good idea and want something similar I must point out that some mosquito nets are treated with a chemical which kills insects so be very careful when choosing!!. Another problem I have had is getting decent photos of the moths I trap with lighting being the main problem, after trying several different types of lighting combined with assorted camera settings and I've found that tungsten lights seem to do the best job but in order to get the moth in a suitable position for the light to work I have had to place it in a plastic tray so the photos don't exactly look 'natural'. In my local branch of B & M I found a small fish tank(see photo above) which I have placed a piece of tree bark in and I will find other 'backgrounds' as time goes on, I have fixed 2 250w tungsten lights to a block of wood behind the tank and made a makeshift lid to stop the moths escaping....results so far are promising now all I need are some moths!. I must also add a big thank you to Ben Sale from the Essex Moths blog(http://bensale-essexmoths.blogspot.com/) for all of his help over the last 10 months.

Early Thorn

2010-04-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

I got quite a few Early Thorn last year but because I didn't start trapping till July I only got second brood examples which didn't quite compare to the one I trapped tonight, it's a shame it's so difficult to get them to open their wings and smile for the camera!.
The trap was out from 7:45pm to 4am

2 Early Grey
3 Common Quaker
1 Early Thorn

Small Quaker

2010-04-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

It was down to 2c by midnight so not a perfect night for trapping even though it had sneaked back up to 5c by 3am but it was starting to rain by then too so the temperature rise didn't make much difference. Despite that I still found a few moths in the trap which included a Small Quaker, I got a moth late last month which I thought was a washed out Small Quaker but this one was much easier to ID so that's another new species for my garden.

The trap was out from 7:50pm to 3:15am

2 Clouded Drab

3 Common Quaker

1 Early Grey

1 Small Quaker

Brindled Beauty

2010-04-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

It rained from 11pm to 1:30am so I didn't get many moths but I did get a Brindled Beauty to add to my garden list and what could possibly be a Red Chestnut?.
The trap was out from 7:50pm to 3:30am

1 Brindled Beauty
1 Common Quaker
3 Early Grey
1 ??????(see top photo)
1 Diurnea Fagella(sat on the wall near the back door)

Elvaston Castle Country Park(field report-ish)

2010-03-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

I visit Elvaston Castle Country Park during the day 3 or 4 times a week but rarely see many moths there, all I found there last year was a single Small Magpie but in the last couple of days things have changed. Yesterday I noticed 3 Engrailed resting on tree trunks, I took a small pot with me today to catch one so I could get a photo and compare it with the Engrailed I get in my garden. The Elvaston Engrailed are mixed shades of brown whereas the ones I get at home are more blue/green with some brown so even though Elvaston is only a couple of miles from my home there is quite a bit of variation. I found 7 Engrailed at Elvaston today as well as 1 Diurnea Fagella and a micro which escaped from the pot as I was getting the Diurnea into it.

I wasn't expecting that!

2010-03-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

I should have taken finding the Engrailed on the garden fence as a good omen, specially after I spotted another 3 of them in some nearby woodland whilst walking my dogs....but as the temperature dropped to what felt like a very chilly 5c I nearly didn't bother putting the trap out. By 1am I had just 2 moths and it was getting colder so I was almost in shock when I went out to clear away and found 6 moths including 2 Hebrew Character and a Herald!. I also got what I think is a Small Quaker if anyone can confirm this?

The trap was out from 7:40pm to 4am

1 Common Quaker

1 Clouded Drab

2 Hebrew Character

1 Herald

1 Small Quaker?(see 3rd photo above)

Dotted Border

2010-03-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

Much cooler tonight with the temperature down to 4c so I didn't get many moths but one of them was a Dotted Border which is another new one for my garden so I'm happy enough :0)
The trap was out from 7pm to 4am(GMT)

1 Dotted Border
2 Early Grey
1 Clouded Drab

New layout & a new moth

2010-03-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

How cool is the new blogger template designer!!

My new blog title background photo features a Pebble Prominent, my MV trap and a satellite view of the area I trap in(grid Ref:SK3832Blue - SK388324Green or SK38813241Red). The area behind and including my garden was a copse on the edge of farm land from around the 1500s to the mid 1920s, the copse wasn't removed it was just split into gardens so many of the trees have been there for hundreds of years which makes it something of a suburban wildlife haven with everything from frogs to foxes regularly visiting our gardens. I plan to canvas the area next month with a leaflet encouraging my neighbours to report any caterpillars or moths they find so that I can see if there is anything in the area that doesn't visit my garden.

Tonight I got the usual bunch of seasonal visitors plus a Twin-Spotted Quaker which is another first for my garden....I also found a rather fat toad on the sheet under the trap which was enjoying a meal of flies....I'm hoping it hadn't also eaten any moths!

The trap was out from 6:45pm to 3:30am

2 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla

4 Common Quaker

2 Chestnut

1 Early Grey

1 Twin-Spotted Quaker

Despite the rain....

2010-03-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I got quite a few moths tonight considering it was raining quite heavily most of the time, nothing new but a much nicer specimen of The Chestnut than the first one I caught earlier this month.
The trap was out from 6:45pm till 3am

1 Chestnut
1 Clouded Drab
2 Early Grey
2 Common Quaker
1 Agonopterix heracliana
2 Light Brown Apple Moth

Satellite

2010-03-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

I only got one moth tonight, a Satellite but once again it's a new one for my garden and the first one I have ever seen, I was amazed at just how 'bright' the white spots on it's wings were...now I just need to catch one with orange spots!.

Engrailed

2010-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Much colder than last night but I gave the MBT a try anyway and managed to attract a lovely Engrailed which is another first for my garden.

Less is more...much more!

2010-03-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

I put the trap out last night despite the rain and all I got was another Common Quaker, the rain was much heavier early on tonight so I went with the lazy MBT on the window ledge routine and attracted 3 Common Quaker, 2 Early Grey, what I think are 2 Clouded Drab(quite a bit of variation between them), 1 Agonopterix Heracliana, 1 Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla and a micro I can't ID, I didn't get a very good photo of it either but it had a particularly bright silver line along the inside edge of its wings if that helps?

Photos top to bottom

Clouded Drab

Early Grey

Common Quaker

unidentified micro

Where are they?

2010-03-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

It stayed at around 7c so I was hopeful and I put the MBT trap out as soon as it started to get dark but I only got 1 moth!, looks like a Common Quaker to me which is a new one for my garden so I'm not too disappointed :0(

A slightly bigger improvement

2010-03-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

It stayed around 5c tonight and I caught a macro!....admittedly it wasn't a very big macro at 11mm but I'll take what I can get at the moment, It's probably a worn Chestnut or Quaker of some sort but I'm not 100% sure despite scouring the usual sites for anything similar so it's over to you guys again for an ID. I also got 3 beautiful Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla, tomorrow night promises to be considerably warmer so fingers crossed....

Small improvements

2010-03-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

I've tried MBT, MV and actinic in the last month and only attracted 1 moth which was a Pale Brindled Beauty, tonight the forecast promised a slightly warmer evening but failed to deliver on that promise with the temperature dropping to 2c soon after midnight. I put the actinic out in the garden out of hope but didn't expect to catch anything so the 2 micros I found in the trap were a very welcome surprise....not that I have any idea what either of them are!

2010.....here we go again

2010-01-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

So far 2010 has been a dead loss moth wise, the ice and snow obviously hasn't helped and several attempts at trapping on the few milder nights has failed to produce anything...until tonight!. I decided to put the MBT on the window ledge as the weather forecast promised 4c tonight and it was worth taking the chance because within 20 minutes I had 2 moths on the outside of the window. Firstly there was what I'm guessing is a late flying Winter Moth as opposed to an Early Moth?, the other one I'm less sure of...could be a Pale Brindled Beauty?...looks a lot like a small version of a Peppered Moth to me. Nothing else turned up but it did get a lot cooler after 11pm....I can't wait for it to get a bit warmer.

First moth for December!

2009-12-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

I'm still placing the MBT on the window ledge regularly and I finally got my first moth for this month but unfortunately it's not a December Moth it's a Dark Sword Grass but as it's the first macro I've seen for weeks it's more than welcome.

Mottled Umber

2009-11-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 weeks the weather has been doing its very best to stop me from putting a trap out, I have managed to get a trap out for a few odd hours on various nights but I have mainly been stuck with just putting the MBT lamp on the window ledge. Apart from a few micros I haven't seen or caught anything until tonight when I was very pleased to see a Mottled Umber resting on the window...it wasn't so pleased to see me and it took 25 minutes to get it to 'pose' for the photo but well worth the effort if it means I have another moth to add to my list!! :0)

2009 best photos

2009-11-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

I had a great time at the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Entomological Society(DANES) annual insect show last Saturday, it was good to meet a few of the people who have been helping me with ID confimation etc.....it's always nice to put a face to an email address!!. I'm really looking forward to attending their trapping events next year as well as any other events I can get to, all the details are on their website http://www.danes-insects.org.uk/index.htm

Anyway as I haven't had anything apart from a rather lonely and sorry looking Silver-Y recently I thought I would share my favourite photos from my catches since I got back into 'serious' trapping 5 months ago, I'm guessing I wont be catching much between now and new year but I will be trying and if anything interesting does turn up I will be sure to share it with you.

Weekly update!

2009-10-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

I'm getting such a small amount of moths now that I thought a weekly catch list would make better reading so until things pick up again I will only report once a week.....unless anything interesting turns up. The Brick is getting to be a regular visitor along with Spruce Carpet and several November/Winter/Autumnal moths which after consulting with Ian Kimber from UKMoths I have now decided to bunch together as 'Epirrita' because it's near impossible to tell them all apart.

In the last 7 days I have had the trap out 3 times and had the MBT lamp in the spare room window twice.....

7 Blair's Shoulder Knot

4 The Brick(see photo above)

4 Epirrita

5 Spruce Carpet

2 Silver-Y

2 Angle Shades

1 Grey Pine Carpet

1 Rosy Rustic

1 Black Rustic

1 Feathered Thorn

Feathered Thorn

2009-10-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

I decided not to put the trap out tonight due to the poor weather conditions(wind & rain)but at 11pm I decided to put the MBT on the window ledge so I went out to the garage to fetch it and on the way back into the house a Feathered Thorn(see photo above) flew right past me and straight up to the kitchen strip-light!.....which was lucky because nothing else turned up!.

Winter Moth?

2009-10-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

I put the home made MBT trap out tonight because I expected rain and this has much better lamp protection than my other traps, it rained quite heavily at 2:45am ending the trapping session but I'm pleased to say the lamp didn't suffer at all. In the trap I found the moth in the photo above, at first I thought it was a November Moth but I now think it's a Winter Moth which leads me to think that what I thought was a Northern Winter Moth in my previous posting was also a Winter Moth?.

The trap was out from 7pm to 2:45am

Tonight's Log

2 Blair's Shoulder-Knot

1 Winter Moth(see photo above)?

1 Angle Shades

1 Black Rustic

1 Spruce Carpet

What are you doing here?

2009-10-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

I put the MBT on the window ledge again tonight and managed to attract a Red Green Carpet and a Blair's Shoulder Knot....not unusual for this time of year but then something else turned up and unless I'm mistaken it's a Heart & Dart which I would have thought was very unusual for this time of year....isn't it?. It looked quite fresh so is it a late brood or have I made a mistake with the ID?.