Micro catch up Part 1..............

I've been a little too busy for blogging of late, so here's a selection of new Micros to start with. The year really has had an early kick start due to the Mediterranean weather.

 Eriocrania subpurpurella 0006

A 1st for the garden 15th April.

 Zelleria hepariella  435

Another garden 1st 15th April.

 Diamond-back Moth 464

A year tick 16th April.

Pyrausta aurata 1361

A year tick 16th April.

 Depressaria ultimella 671

A garden 1st, 17th April.

 Mompha epilobiella 893

A garden 1st 19th April.

Instant Garden Assembly 15/04

After a long year of nurturing, feeding and storing Emperor Moth caterpillars it was finally time to see the fruits of our labours. That day came on 15th April when the usual morning recce around the rearing container presented more than just a few motionless cocoons. Out of the 7 left from the original 12 larvae there were 2 newly emerged females and 1 male.

Newly emerged female 1

 Female no. 2- also newly emerged

After a few hours they are fully developed and ready for action. They have got to be one of the most striking moths in the British Isles.

Female 1

They are quite variable too, in size and colour. Even though they were fed at the same rate from the same food source. In this case Hawthorn.

Female 2

I kept the male back in a pot inside for the time being and took the females outside. After which I let him go to find his way in the wide world. 

Captive bred Male

What happened next really took me by surprise. Whilst working, Louie came in with a grin on his face saying " I've just caught an Emperor". So I took a look and indeed he had caught a male. The mesh container with the two females in couldn't have been out more than 15 minutes.

Male attracted by the females

This is the '1st on the scene' male. Shortly after that all hell broke loose as I decided to take the females out of the mesh container and put both on a garden table.

Within about 10 minutes we had 5 male Emperors winging their way around the garden, slowly spiraling there way towards the females.

At one point, female 1, the smaller of the two had three suiters all fighting furiously for her attention. But there can only be one winner and after both females were successfully paired, the others melted away almost as quickly as they had arrived. Shortly after mating I put the females on the Hawthorn hedge and as dusk approached they flew off into the gloom. Later on a female (presumably one of mine) came crashing into the trap! I let her go outside the front of the house and haven't seen them since.

Male-deceased

In nature there are always winners and losers, unfortunately I found this male in a spider's web the next morning.

Another 2.....13/04

The weather has cooled down a bit and so has the catch. After not trapping on 12th, I put the trap out last night. I was spurred on after netting a 1st for year day-flying micro, but my enthusiasm was stunted somewhat after recording just 5 moths this morning. At least 1 was new for the year........

Garden Carpet

 Esperia sulphurella 649

The result- 6 of 5 species-

• Hebrew Character- 2
• Garden Carpet- 1- Year tick
• Powdered Quaker- 1
• Double-striped Pug- 1
• Esperia sulphurella- 1- Year tick

Nuts......10/04

A very poor catch, with just 4 moths caught. It looks like the time of the big 3 Orthosias is coming to an end in this neck of the woods. Just 2 Hebrew Characters another Muslin Moth and this-

Nut-tree Tussock

This is the 3rd record so far of a moth that usually turns up at the end of April. After seeing 2 quite daggy ones, this 1 was really fresh- so warranted a snap or 2.

Pug problems........09/04

.......And they've started earlier than usual. Yet another warm night early on, but a surprising dip in temp to just 3°C. Numbers were down on previous nights even though I had 2 traps out again.

This little critter was 1 of 2 pretty much identical moths found last night. When I caught it, I immediately thought it was Oak-tree due to the compact size (barely bigger than Double-striped) and pale patches beside the central black dots. However the strong white line along the trailing edge also made me think of Common.

I will leave it up to the jury of bloggers far more experienced than me to decide.

Oak-tree Pug

Thanks for ID confirmation from Mark & Andy.

 Muslin Moth

The Teddy Bear of moths- always nice to see.

The result- 12 of 8 species-

• Hebrew Character- 2
• Oak-tree Pug- 2 - Year tick
• Clouded Drab- 2
• Brindled Beauty- 1
• Nut-tree Tussock- 1
• Muslin Moth- 1- Year tick
• Powdered Quaker- 1

May, but in early April.....

The incredible Summer-like weather continues; it feels like Britain has been moved 1000 miles south! This is having an extreme affect on flight times, compared to last year at least. Most of my recent additions are more likely to be encountered in May. Right I'm off to Broom to find a Red-footed Falcon and a Bee-eater!

Waved Umber

 Nut-tree Tussock

 Pale Mottled Willow

 Brindled Pug ab. hirschkei

 Brindled Beauty

 Bee Fly

 Burying Beetle Sp.??

Not sure which species- but I've never seen it before. any ideas?

The result- 23 of 13 species-

• Hebrew Character- 5
• Common Quaker- 4
• White-shouldered House-moth- 3
• Clouded Drab- 2
• Red Chestnut- 1
• Early Thorn- 1
• Waved Umber- 1- Year tick
• Nut-tree Tussock- 1- Year tick
• Pale Mottled Willow- 1- Year tick
• Argyrotaenia ljungiana- 1
• Agonopterix arenella- 1
• Brindled Pug- 1

..........07/04

Another 2 macros to add as the favourable conditions continue. The Streamer flew away when I shone the torch on it- tricky things these geometridae!

Brindled Pug

A year tick- I came home from the pub at 10.30 last night to find this on the side of my van.

The result 19 of 9 species-

• Hebrew Character- 7
• Common Quaker- 3
• Clouded Drab- 3
• Brindled Pug- 1- Year tick
• Streamer- 1 - Year tick
• Early Grey- 1
• Early Thorn- 1
• Powdered Quaker- 1
• Emmelina monodactyla- 1

Spring.......06/04

........And after not bothering for a few days due to high winds, it seems that Spring has finally sprung. The recent high temperatures must of helped as I recorded 4 new moths for the year in one night. I logged a temp of 15°C at 8.00pm which is by far the highest so far.

Pebble Prominent

Last year I had to wait until 19th May for this species.

 Brimstone Moth

Another fairly early addition.

 Agonopterix arenella 697

 Argyrotaenia ljungiana 974

The result- 21 of 10 species-

• Common Quaker- 5
• Hebrew Character- 5
• Clouded Drab- 4
• Early Grey
• Brimstone Moth- Year tick
• Pebble Prominent- Year tick
• Emmelina monodactyla
• Agonopterix arenella- Year tick
• Agonopterix heracliana
• Argyrotaenia ljungiana- Year tick

BB........02/04

Brindled Beauty

I caught 2 of these last year, so another good one to see in 2011.

Result 16 of 7 species-

• Common Quaker- 8
• Hebrew Character- 3
• Clouded Drab- 1
• Red Chestnut- 1
• Powdered Quaker- 1
• Brindled Beauty- 1- Year tick
• A. heracliana- 1

.........01/04

  Peacock's Island, Broom GPs

A view of the Island looking South-West, after the scrub clearance.

A fairly early start this morning (2nd) with a quick bike ride around the Broom Gps complex before doing some scrub clearance work on Peacock's Island. A nice tally of both departing and arriving migrants- HERE.

I didn't bring my camera but here's an idea of what we got up to- taken from ED GREEN'S BLOG in 2009.

Getting back to Mothing, it was a bit windy last night but I persevered anyway. The catch was quite low, but it was nice to get a year tick for an expected macro moth.

Powdered Quaker

Last year I caught 25 of these, so relatively common in the area.

The result- 9 of 4 species-

• Common Quaker- 5
• Clouded Drab- 2
• Hebrew Character- 1
• Powdered Quaker- 1- Year tick

Cradle of Filth!...29/03

...........and that's what I was presented with this morning after finding 4 of these foul-smelling Black Carrion Beetles in my trap. There are apparently 20 different species of burying beetles in the U.K. Not all live on carrion, but those that do carry small Gamasid mites around with them. As the beetle feeds on decomposing flesh, the mites prey on fly larvae and worms which inhabit the carcass. They get they're fill before hopping back on the 'bus' as the beetle looks for it's next meal......Nice!

Necroporus humator

Moth wise it was another poor night, though slightly better than last. It's been a while since I had a new species. So maybe Powdered Quaker, Streamer or one of the Pinions will be the next on the year list.

The result 14 of 6 species-

• Common Quaker- 6
• Clouded Drab- 4
• Early Grey- 1
• Hebrew Character- 1
• Double-striped Pug- 1
• Emmelina mondactyla- 1

Bored.........

Well, last night was the pits, with the 'Big 3' still at large though in small numbers.
So for your entertainment, I have laid on a Belgian Ballet Dancer getting the better of a 2 1930's security guards with a wooded standard lamp and some Kung fu- Enjoy!



The result- 10 of 4 species-

• Common Quaker- 4
• Clouded Drab- 4
• Hebrew Character- 1
• Emmelina monodactyla- 1

Transition......27/03

I'm just waiting for something to happen now, I've just about had enough of the 'big 3'.

Early Thorn

Hofmannophila pseudospretella  647

The irrepressible Brown House-moth.

The result- 26 of 10 species-

• Common Quaker- 8
• Clouded Drab- 4
• Hebrew Character- 4
• Small Quaker- 2
• Early Thorn- 2
• Emmelina monodactyla- 2
• Satellite- 1
• Diurnea fagella- 1
• Brown House-moth- 1 Year tick

..........22/03

2 more macros to the good, giving a grand total of 30 species in the garden this year. Again conditions were perfect. The Early Thorn fecked off before it's photo shoot...........but I'm sure I'll get another chance!

Double-striped Pug

A year tick- for some reason, a bit difficult to get in my garden.

The result- 25 0f 9 species-

• Common Quaker- 14
• Clouded Drab- 9
• Hebrew Character- 5
• Small Quaker- 2
• E. monodactyla- 2
• A. heracliana- 2
• Early Grey- 1
• Double-striped Pug- 1 Year Tick
• Early Thorn- 1 Year Tick