A few Highlights.........

The warm nights have certainly boosted the tally of late, but where are the micros? I think the cold, extended Winter could have affected their numbers or at least delayed their emergence by a good few weeks.

Swallow Prominent

NFY, 16th May.

Mullein

Absent in 2012- NFY, 19th May.

 Pale Tussock

NFY- 19th May.

Cinnabar 

NFY- 20th May.

 Sallow Kitten

NFY- 20th May.

 Currant Pug

Probably.......but not well marked- NFY 20th May.

 Foxglove Pug

NFY- 20th May.

 White-spotted Pug

NFY- 20th May.

1428 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella

NFY- 20th May.

 Poplar Kitten

Best of the bunch and only my 2nd ever record- 21st May. 

Wretched!.........

............and that's an understatement. The mothing has been terrible of late; so bad in fact that I've only had a handful of trap nights in April. Incredibly, this time last year I'd already recorded 54 species of macro. However this year I reached just 30 species on 24th April. So the photos below are ALL the highlights since my last post 2 weeks ago.

BTW- Thanks for the English lesson Mr. Grimsey, my homework will be in on time this week. Spell check doesn't seem to work on Blog titles. Mind you, 'Retched' is appropriate too!

Swallow Prominent

 Powdered Quaker

Both the above represent half the catch on 24th April. The 2 other moths were an Angle Shades and a late Early Grey.

 985 Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana

Seen on a rare sunny spell during the day on 23rd April.

 On 19th April I found this larval web on a small Hawthorn at Broom GPs. I think they are Brown-tail caterpillars............

The Slow down........

After the halcyon days of the first weekend of the month, things have got back to normal. Wind and more seasonal temperatures have kept new species down to a mere trickle. Though there have been some highlights.......

Swallow Prominent

1st of the year, 7th May

Small Waved Umber

1st of the year, 8th May

Buff-tip

1st of the year, 9th May

925 Phtheochroa rugosana

1st of the year, 10th May

Privet Hawk-moth

1st of the year, 13th May

246 Tinea semifulvella

Garden 1st, 13th May

1083 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana

1st of the year, 14th May

List for 15th May- 40 of 14 species

• 2333 Apamea anceps Large Nutmeg 8
• 2089 Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart 9
• 1819 Eupithecia exiguata Mottled Pug 1
• 2092 Agrotis puta Shuttle-shaped Dart 8
• 2087 Agrotis segetum Turnip Moth 2
• 2384 Hoplodrina ambigua Vine's Rustic 1
• 2147 Hada plebeja Shears 2
• 2334 Apamea sordens Rustic Shoulder-knot 1
• 2098 Axylia putris Flame 1
• 2337x Oligia strigilis agg. Marbled Minor agg. 1
• 2380 Charanyca trigrammica Treble Lines 3
• 2126 Xestia c-nigrum Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
• 1994 Phalera bucephala Buff-tip 1
• 1707 Idaea seriata Small Dusty Wave 1
• 1428 Aphomia sociella Bee Moth 1

A Prominent Display...19/05

A really good night last night, but not as warm as some areas of the country as temperatures still got down below 10°C. For the 1st time this year I reached over 20 species, with a couple of micros yet to be ID'ed. Unlike others (especially Ian G!) no Hawk Moths yet, though I'm extremely happy with 3 Prominent species.......

Pebble Prominent Lesser Swallow Prominent Swallow Prominent Brindled Pug Common Swift- Male

Buff-tip

Rustic Shoulder-knot

I think I would have recorded more if I had visited the traps a few times in the night.........but I was just too tired. I also think just using Actinic will never produce the hauls found by others......

I'll either have to put out more traps or move!

1. SS Dart- 4
2. Flame Shoulder- 4
3. Swallow Prominent
4. Lesser Swallow Prominent
5. Pebble Prominent- Garden 1st
6. Small Waved Umber- Year tick
7. Hebrew Character
8. Treble Lines
9. Pale Tussock
10. Buff-tip- Garden 1st
11. Red Twin-spot Carpet
12. Garden Carpet
13. Common Pug
14. Brindled Pug
15. Heart & Dart
16. Common Swift
17. Emmelina monodactyla- 2
18. White-shouldered House-moth
19. Rustic Shoulder-knot- Garden 1st
20. Micro A?- Poor photo (see above post)- Epinotia immundana
21. Micro B?- flew away prob. Depressaria sp.

..........08/05

Swallow Prominent

The cold and wet weather continues. But outside the trap this Swallow Prominent created the night's only highlight and was new for the year. The only others were Hebrew Character- 2, a lone Shuttle-shaped Dart and a Muslin Moth.

Swallow Prominent

A very striking moth, a few caught in late July. As you can see, they are willing to sit on the end of your finger........