Goldcliff 27th November - 12 December Moths!

I ran the MV as the weather was so mild and was delighted with the "catch" in the morning. I "caught" 25 moths of 9 species. Actually only 6 moths were caught in the trap - 4 December moths, 1 red-line quaker and 1 chestnut. The rest were resting on the rear wall of the barns and it took a while to find all of them!

Total moths recorded were:

December moth - 12
Red-line quaker - 1
Cypress carpet - 2
Spruce carpet - 1
Chestnut - 1
Common plume - 2
Mottled umber - 2
Epirrita sp. 3
Dark sword-grass - 1

Mottled Umber (with "death's-head" on thorax)

December Moth

Cypress Carpet

Chepstow 7th October
News update- rarity turns up
A small micro with a big meaning!

The unknown micro that turned up in the trap on the of the 7th October at Chepstow was not found in any moth books covering the UK.
The reason Sam Bosanquet Micro Moth officer for Gwent informs me is it's because it's a migrant- and a very rare one at that.
It turns out to be Etiella zinckenella.
Etiella zinckenella has only been recorded in the British Isles 12 times since the 1990's so for this one to turn up in the trap was lucky 13 for me. Another specimen apparently was caught at Portland the same night on the south coast.

 

Etiella zinckenella (Lima-bean Pod borer)

 

A first for Wales
Sam also informs me that it almost certainly a first recording of this micro moth in Wales.
The nearby county of Glamorgan certainly has no records of it.

It's distribution in Europe is mainly in the southern and eastern countries of the Continent, but on rare occasions when the wind and weather condition are right the moth turns up here in the UK.
It also resides in the USA where it is considered a bit of pest in Southern California where the larva bore their way into Soy beans and Peas. 

Chepstow- 21st September

Late news.

A trapping session that was conducted last month on the 21st September in Chepstow had two moths pending identification.
The 'unknown' turned out to be a Lesser Yellow Underwing whilst the other, a micro, was confirmed by Sam Bosanquet several days ago as Enarmonia formosanus (Cherry Bark Tortrix).

Enarmonia formosanus has been recorded in Vice County 35 before but only on rare occasions.
Sam informs me that this only the 7th county record of this moth, however it likely to be an under-recorded species.
It tends to feed upon trees like Rowan, wild or ornamental cherry, and possibly plum with a particular liking to mature apple trees.
This one was caught late in its flight season as it tends to be mainly seen through the summer months.

Chepstow- 7th October

Temperature Low: 13.5c, 56f.
Weather Conditions:
Partly cloudy at first then overcast with patchy spots of drizzle, mild.

Ran the trap in the hope that a few extra moths may be around given the milder conditions and it proved to be a good call as many species turned up with a few 'new' additions to the site.
41 moths of 17 species were recorded with the break down of the catch listed below:

Light Brown Apple Moth (9) Blair's Shoulder-knot,
Common Marbled Carpet (8) Narrow-winged Grey (2)
Lesser Yellow Underwing (2) Silver Y, Light Emerald (2)
Large Yellow Underwing (5)
Vestal, Willow Beauty, Red-green Carpet (2)
Angle Shades, Double-striped Tabby (2)
Beautiful Hook-tip, Straw Dot and Cypress Carpet
Plus an interesting unknown micro?

New for site were Vestal, Cypress Carpet, Straw Dot and Cypress Carpet.
The micro does not appear in any of my books but is new.

 

 Double-striped Tabby (Hypsopygia glaucinalis)

 

Beautiful Hook-tip (Laspeyria flexula)

 

Cypress Carpet (Thera cupressata)

Lower Ochrwyth - 8 October

With cooler nights imminent, I ran the MV and at last trapped a Merveille du jour. I say at last, because this is the first time I have caught the species in the garden - so well over due. Also trapped were: Diamond-back Moth, Silver Y, Blair's Shoulder Knot, Yellow line Quaker, Snout x2, Common Marbled Carpet x15, Spruce Carpet x 4, Red-green Carpet x4, Rosy Rustic, The Chestnut, Straw Dot and Light Brown Apple Moth x2. 13 species, 31 moths.

Merveille du jour

Blair's Shoulder-knot

Black Rock - 7 October

A return to Black a Rock by Kevin, Sheila and myself to see if we could catch a few migrants - we did. Dark-sword Grass (x5), Rush Veneer (x11), Silver Y (x7) and Vestal. We also had Straw dot, Large Wainscott, Green-brindled Crescent, Angle Shades (x2), Commom Marbled Carpet (x6), Vine's Rustic, Barred Sallow (X12), Set. Hebrew Character, Snout (x2), Shuttle-shaped Dart (x2), Willow Beauty (x2), Brimstone (x2), Red-green Carpet, Large YU, Broad bordered YU, Acleris ?; Figure of eight, L-album Wainscott (Kevin has suggested possibly only 3rd county record). Totals: 22 species; 63 moths.

Goldcliff, 2nd October

I ran the MV trap and recorded 35 moths of 13 species. NFY were a Large Ranunculus and 5 Blaire's Shoulder-knots. The catch also included 14 Beaded Chestnuts, a Lunar Underwing and a Bordered Beauty.
The camouflage of the Large Ranunculus on the concrete wall of the barn was superb.

Large Ranunculus from a distance

Large Ranunculus close-up

Bordered Beauty

 

Blaire's Shoulder-knot

 

 

 

 

 

Open invitation - moth trapping at Black Rock, Sunday 6 October

We'll be doing a spot of trapping at Black Rock picnic site near Portskewitt, Chepstow this Sunday evening. Should be on site about 6.45pm - feel free to come and join us.

Lower Ochrwyth - 1 October

Ran the MV until the rain started at about 10pm. There were several new for the year: Green-brindled Crescent ab. Capucina, Large Ranunculus, Flounced Chestnut, Svensson's Copper Underwing, Yellow-line Quaker and Red Underwing. There were also x4 Barred Sallow, Red-green Carpet, Spruce Carpet, Light Emerald, Large & Lesser Yellow Underwing, Common Marbled Carpet, Snout and Set. Hebrew Character.

21st September- Chepstow

Overnight temperature low: 14.7c.
Conditions: Mild, overcast with mist formation into the morning hours.

Ran the actinic trap in a slightly different area of the garden with an additional sheet and enticed 63 moths of 22 species with 2 pending confirmation.
Moths recorded were:
Light Brown Apple Moth (9) Common Plume (3) Brimstone Moth (4)
Light Emerald (6) Silver Y, Snout, Pale Mottled Willow (2) Treble-bar, Common Marbled Carpet (7) Angle Shades, Square-spot Rustic,
Copper Underwing, Common Marble, Narrow-winged Grey (4)
Setaceous Hebrew Character (2) Large Yellow Underwing (10)
Lesser Yellow Underwing (4) Small Blood-vein, Green Carpet,
Lunar Underwing and Dark Sword-grass.
Pending: 1 unknown and possible Cherry Bark Tortrix.

 

There was a second recording of the immigrant Dark Sword-grass moth on site this year with a previous sighting on the 29th July.

The moth tends to be more frequently recorded between the months of July to October across the British Isles.

 

Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon) 

 Pale Mottled Willow (Paradrina clavipalpis)

Lunar Underwing (Omphaloscelis lunosa) 

Lower Ochrwyth - 25 September

MV delivered 75 moths of 21 species. NFY were: Ypsolopha sequella; Grey Pine Carpet; Sallow; and, Black Rustic.

Also: Light Brown Apple Moth x7; Common Plume x2; Brimstone; Common Marbled Carpet; Red-green Carpet x4; Spruce Carpet x2; Straw Dot; Buff Footman Lesser Yellow Underwing x7; Copper Underwing; Canary-shouldered Thorn; Dusky Thorn; Silver Y; Set. Hebrew Character x4; Flame Shoulder; Pinion-streaked Snout x2; Snout x8;

Redhouse Barns, Goldcliff, 25th September

I ran the MV and recorded 63 moths of 27 species. NFY were 2 Black Rustic and a Green Brindled Crescent.

Black Rustic

Green Brindled Crescent

 

The catch also included a Canary-shouldered Thorn, a Rush Veneer, 2 Silver-Y's, a Spruce Carpet, a Marbled Beauty, 2 Angle Shades and 7 Beaded Chestnuts.



Canary-shouldered Thorn

Uskmouth Reedbeds 23rd September

I ran the LED trap in the reedbeds and caught just 12 moths, but over half were my target species - Large Wainscot. I was very surprised to catch a Cypress Pug though! Silky Wainscot was also a surprise for this time of year, but they did emerge late because of the cold spring. The complete list was:

Large Wainscot 7
Bulrush wainscot 1
Silky Wainscot 1
Rosy Rustic 1
Cypress Pug 1
Small Square Spot 1

One of 7 Large Wainscots

The Cypress Pug

The Bulrush Wainscot

Redhouse Barns, Goldcliff, 22nd  September
I recorded 68 moths of 28 species, including Merveille du Jour, Beaded Chestnut and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing. Merveille du Jour was a first record for Newport Wetlands. The French name means "Marvel of the day" and it certainly was.

Merveille du Jour

Lower Ochrwyth - 21 September

A very humid night so ran the MV for a couple of hours and trapped 153 moths of 30 species.  A third of the catch was of Common Marbled Carpet.  There were also good numbers of Light Brown Apple Moth (x27), Lesser Yellow Underwing (x13), Brimstone (x10) and Spruce Carpet (x6). Also, Red-green Carpet (x3), Pink-barred Sallow, Copper Underwing,  Silver Y (x2), Diamond Back Moth, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Green Carpet, Light Emerald (x3) and Hypsopygia glaucinalis.

Pink-barred Sallow

Autumnal Rustic?

Return to Skenfrith - 5th September

The team (Kevin, Sheila and myself) returned to the Marches for probably the last visit of the season to "fill the gaps" of this particular Monmouthshire square SO42.  The catch amounted to 119 moths of 30 species,   which included 14 new species for the site.  Overall, the four visits to the site this year has resulted in 118 species - an improvement on the only previous record for this part of Monmouthshire, a Dark Dagger (larva) back in August 1972.

Spindle Ermine, Y. plumbella, Brimstone (36), Dusky Thorn, Snout, Yellow Shell, Mother of Pearl, Large YU (10), Lesser Broad-b YU, Copper Underwing (4), Burnished Brass, Common Wainscot (3), Heart & Dart (3), Set. Hebrew Character (5), Small Square Spot (4), Green Carpet, Fame Carpet (2), Common Marbled Carpet (3), Purple Bar, Straw Dot (5), Centre-barred Sallow (3), Angle Shades (2), Dingy Footman, Spectacle (3), Flame Shoulder (13), Feathered Gothic (6), Autumnal Rustic, Blood Vein, Grey Chi.

Flounced Rustic

Thankyou Kevin for identifying the moth as a Pinion-streaked Snout, definitely new for us. We also caught a Cypress Carpet, another new moth for us, here it is.

Seaview Moths 3rd September

This moth turned up in our Robinson trap last night. On being boxed it promptly shed eggs and larvae which "looped". Both eggs and larvae appear on the photograph. We cannot identify the moth, can it be a V moth or is it a micro?

Lower Ochrwyth - last gasps of August

A selection of FFYs etc from the last week or so at Lower Ochrwyth.

23August: Skin Moth, Herald and Crambus lathoniellus
26 August: Parsnip Moth and Copper Underwing to sugar.
27 August: 50 species to MV - 198 moths.  Peach Blossom, Poplar Grey, Purple Bar, Black Arches, Spectacle, Coxcomb Prominent, Tawny-barred Angle, Clouded Border, Silver Y, Pebble Hook-tip, Dusky Thorn x3, Copper Underwing x2, Blood Vein, Ruby Tiger and Argyresthia goedartella.
31 August: (actinic) Current Pug, Agonopterix arenella

Redhouse Barns 29th August

I ran the MV Robinson trap. Catch included 2, 2nd brood Poplar Hawkmoths and a Feathered Gothic.

Feathered Gothic

Goldcliff 29th August

I ran the LED trap at the top of the saltmarsh. Catch included 7 Ear moths (probably Saltern Ears) and a Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.

Some of the Ear spp. moths

 

 

Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing



Black Rock - 22 August

A late entry for last Thursday's trapping session at Black Rock.  Tachystola acroxantha - first record for the county.

Tachystola acroxantha

Black Rock, near Portskewett- 22 August

 

Conditions- Mild, dry and mostly clear with near full moon.

Temperature range: 21c falling to 17c.

 

Richard Clark, Kevin Dupe and myself saw plenty of Brimstone and various types of  'Underwings' on this mild, dry and relatively calm evening.

It was a far cry from the last visit to this location to record moths when the weather took a turn for the worst when storms blew up giving thunder and lightning and some heavy bursts of rain which made things very difficult indeed.

No such worries this time as very few clouds were around.

 

Below are pictures of just a few of the moths recorded. (In some cases 'flash' was used and this may not reflect actual colours).

 

Highly likely to be an 'Saltern Ear'.  

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago)

Black Arches (Lymantria monacha)

Chepstow- 20 August
Conditions- Mostly cloudy, occasional cloud breaks, dry.
Temperature Low- 12.7c.

83 moths of 32 species turned up in and around the trap.
They included:
Brimstone Moth (4) Large Yellow Underwing (5) Flame Shoulder (7)
Lesser BBY Underwing (15) Copper Underwing (2) Common Marble (2)
Shuttle-shaped Dart, Bird-cherry Ermine, Magpie Moth,
Light Brown Apple Moth (2) Silver Y, Common Grass-veneer (4)
Mother Of Pearl (6) Willow Beauty (7) Small Pheonix, Lime-speck Pug,
Knot Grass, Marbled Green, Garden Pebble,
(Possible) Twin-spot Plume (2) Early Thorn, Ruby Tiger,
Double Square-spot (2) The Spectacle, Yellow-barred Brindle (2)
Common Carpet, Flounced Rustic (4) Rustic, Wax Moth,
Square-spot Rustic (2) Triple-spotted Clay and Lychnis. 

Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata)

Triple-spotted Clay (Xestia ditrapezium) 

Lower Ochrwyth - 15 August

Thursday night produced 139 moths of 60 species of which 19 were Micro - I was pleased with this Micro catch as numbers have not been very good in the garden this year.  Two of the Micro species are illustrated below, both being of "local" distribution in Gwent and new for year (NFY).  There were several other NFY: Copper Underwing; Square-spot Rustic; Catoptria pinella; and, Bucculatrix ulmella.  Others of interest included the 3rd Dusky Thorn of the year, Silver Y, Blood Vein (x2), Canary Shouldered Thorn, Diamond Back Moth, Rosy Rustic, Willow Beauty f. rebeli, Marbled Green and Black Arches.

Agriphila latistria

Yponomeuta  plumbella

Lower Ochrwyth

A few new for the year during recent days: Dusky Thorn, Rosy Rustic x2, Barred Hook-tip & Sallow Kitten (6th); Canary Shouldered-Thorn (9th); Ruby Tiger (10th); Dusky Thorn & Burnished Brass (11th).

The Dusky Thorn was new for the garden and for the 2km square - as were the earlier Purple Thorns.

Burnished Brass

Dusky Thorn

Skenfrith - 9 August

A third visit to Skenfrith to "fill the gap" produced a very respectable 181 moths of 60 species.  Most to MV, but "sugaring" of a few trees by Kevin produced the Old Ladies:

Agriphila straminella                            Lesser Yellow Underwing

Agriphila tristella (4)                            Magpie

Antler Moth                                           Mother of Pearl (6)

Bird Cherry Ermine                                Oak Hook-tip

Black Arches                                         Old Lady (3)

Blood Vein                                            Orchard Ermine (3)

Blue Bordered Carpet                            Pale Prominent

Brimstone (6)                                         Pebble Prominent

Buff Footman                                         Peppered Moth (2)

Canary Shouldered Thorn                      Red Twin Spot Carpet (3)

Chequered Free Tree Tortrix                  Riband Wave

Carcina quercana                                 Rosy Footman

Common Pug                                         Ruby Tiger (6)

Common Rustic (2)                                Sallow Kitten (5)

Common White Wave                            Single Dotted Wave

Dark Arches                                          Silver Y (8)

Dingy Footman (15)                               Slender Brindle

Double Square Spot                               Small Fan-Footed Wave (5)

Drinker                                                  Small Phoenix (4)

Dunbar (4)                                             Small Rivulet (2) 

Early Thorn                                            Smokey Wainscot

Eudonia mercurella                              Snout (3)

Flame Shoulder (16)                               Spectacle

Gold Spot                                               Straw Dot

Iron Prominent                                        Swallow Prominent (2)

July Highflyer (3)                                     Tawny Speckled Pug

Knot Grass                                              Udea Prunalis (2)

Large Yellow Underwing (7)                    Willow Beauty (2)

Least Yellow Underwing                          Yellow Shell

Lesser BB Yellow Underwing                   Yellow-tail (6) 

Team on the night: Sheila, Fiona, Kevin, Max and myself. Thanks again to Jean Prosser of St Bridet's for allowing access and for alerting neighbours to the "lights". 

Old Lady at "Sugar" - thanks Max for photograph