Still plenty of butterflies about

 

25th Year Anniversary

2025 is the 25th Anniversary of the formation of Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group, with our founding meeting being held in April 2000. Here's to another 25 years!

Redhouse Barns, 6th March 2025

I ran the MV Robinson over-night. This morning I recorded just 4 species:

Common Quaker 5, Hebrew Character 2, Clouded Drab 2 and Acleris literana 1. In 30 years of moth'ing I have never seen the last species before, so was quite excited. Sterling & Parsons says it is common though.

Acleris literana

Reminder: AGM tonight, Thursday 6th March, 7.30pm

Usk Royal British Legion

Old Market St, Usk NP15 1AL

Speaker: Liam Olds, Buglife Cymru

"The biodiversity of colliery spoil sites"

Also, the temperature is around 10c tonight with hardly any wind, so get your traps on!

 

Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group

Annual General Meeting

Thursday 6th March
7.30pm

Usk Royal British Legion

Old Market St, Usk NP15 1AL

Speaker: Liam Olds, Buglife Cymru

"The biodiversity of colliery spoil sites"

Come and join us for some practical conservation to help our moths & butterflies

Wednesday 15th January & 12th February at Blackrock Quarry, nr Llanelly

Gwent Wildlife Trust are running a number of sessions at Blackrock Quarry, a site important for butterflies, to help combat the invasive cotoneaster. These sessions will be supported by Monmouthshire Moth and Butterfly Group and Butterfly Conservation Trust.

Location: Blackrock Quarry, Blackrock, Llanelly, Darrenfelen, Monmouthshire, NP7 0LL (SO217127, petulant.piled.butterfly). There is a layby near the site entrance for parking.

Timings: 10am-2pm on Wednesday 15th January and Wednesday 12th February

Task: Using hand tools to cut back cotoneaster.

For more details and to sign up, please send Kath a quick email at kbeasley@gwentwildlife.org 

Bonfire Night surprise

Redhouse Barns, 5th November 

I put out the Robinson MV in sight of a large Holm Oak, in the hope of catching a lot of Spiny Hook-tips. In the morning there was just one Spiny Hook-tip outside the trap which flew away straight away. There was one Radford's Flame Shoulder inside the trap. When I was putting the trap away, I noticed another on the cabling.

Redhouse Barns 29th October 2024 

I set up the Robinson MV and in the morning was excited to see a Spiny Hook-tip on the outside of the trap. I knew what it was as Kevin Hewitt had sent me  a photo of one caught in the north of the county by Wendy Tyler-Batt the day before! There were 3 more inside the trap, plus another on one of the baffles, making 5 in total. The foodplant is Holm Oak and there is a massive one only about 50m away. I also caught a Radford's Flame Shoulder, a 2nd VC record and again Kevin Hewitt had sent a photo of one the day before! The VC 1st had been trapped recently on the Blorenge by the Gloucestershire moth-er Jade Louise Gore. Also of interest was a Scarce Bordered-straw.

Spiny Hook-tip

Spiny Hook-tip

Radford's Flame Shoulder

Scare Bordered Straw

 

Roger James 1945 – 2024

Members of this group were greatly saddened to hear of the death of our Chairperson, Roger James, at the end of July. Our thoughts are with his wife Julia and two sons Jeff and Martin. As well as being Chair of this group, Roger was also Chair of the Newport City Council’s Local Biodiversity Partnership, President Emeritus of Gwent Wildlife Trust, Chair of the Wildlife in Newport Group (Wing) and a former Trustee of the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre.

Roger was our Chair from the inception of the Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group in 2000. He was instrumental in the setting up of the group. Roger took early retirement in 1998 and this allowed him to devote the majority of his time to the conservation and recording of wildlife. He recorded many moth Vice County firsts and his most notable was probably the small ranunculus in 1999. His pride in this was reflected in his email address, smallranunculus@......

Roger’s enthusiasm and knowledge was boundless and he always had time to share his expertise with others. I first met Roger in 1990, when I joined Wing – looking to gain experience in conservation. Roger’s help and guidance helped me gain admittance to a degree course in Environmental Biology at Swansea University. After graduation, he was my referee for every job that I applied for. I am sure there are many others who were also helped in their careers in conservation by Roger and knowledgeable amateurs and volunteers whose interest he nurtured. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

 Weather looking very good fot Martin's Moth Night tonight! 

The forecast for Cwmcarn this evening is 15c up til Midnight, dry and calm. Pretty ideal for mothing. As well as lots of traps running, I'll be doing some sugaring. Details in post below. 

 

Martin's Moth Night 2024

Sunday 21st July

Cwmcarn Forest Drive

8pm 'til midnight

Help us celebrate the birthday of our former County Lepidoptera Recorder, Dr Martin Anthoney. Run your own trap at home or anywhere in the county or come to Cwmcarn Forest Drive on 21st July. Martin trapped at Cwmcarn many times and some of the staff there still remember him fondly.

Hosted by Kevin Hewitt (County Recorder, macro moths and butterflies). Come at 8pm if you want to set up your own trap, otherwise come for 8.45pm.  Sunset is at 9.15pm. Please contact Kevin Hewitt if you would like to run a trap at Cwmcarn - kvn.hewitt@gmail.com 

St Julian's, 18th June 2024

Sheila set up the Robinson MV trap and the next morning recorded just 15 species.  However, it included the 1st Privet Hawkmoth for the site. 

Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group

Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 27th March
7.30pm

Usk Royal British Legion

Old Market St, Usk NP15 1AL

Speaker: Rob Parry, Chief Executive Officer - Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC):

"Marsh Fritillary Population Reinforcement".

Hebrew Character brings Seasons Greetings on Winter Solstice

I ran the trap at Redhouse Barns and Sheila ran the trap at St Julian's. This morning, there were 6 December moths at St Julian's, a mottled Umber, 5 Epi post and 2 silver-Y's. All but one of the moths were on the wall behind, not in the trap. At Redhouse there was nothing in the trap, but 3 December moths on the barn wall, 3m behind. I was putting away the trap when a moth caught my eye on the electrics box - a Hebrew character - a species not normally seen until March.

 Got it! Streak--googled by my nephew. The posture depicted in Waring and Townsend caught me out. I should have taken more care in searching in Chris Manley's book.

 Does anyone know what this is? I can't find it in any of my books. In my trap in Llantarnam Abbey wood on the night of 26/10/2023.

 Dear Kevin--please let me have your email address or , better, a phone number. I want to ask for some advice. Best wishes--Bob Roome (01633 865744 or 07512787621 or rroome710@btinternet.com)

Bulwark Chepstow

 Good Afternoon everyone,

This is my first addition to the findings as I am a complete novice having gained interest through helping a friend of mine when he was visiting his daughter.

As of yet, I have only had one successful trapping.

The date of this was October 2nd, the evening was damp and misty.

Two Large Yellow Underwings

Eight Box

Two Epiphyas Postvittana

One Acleris Sparsana,

I apologise for any scientific spelling erros as I am just learning.

Lyonetia prunifoliella - a new leaf miner to look out for.

Lyonetia prunifoliella has been spreading rapidly across England, having recolonised the country a few years ago following a period of around 100 years with no records. It was first recorded in Wales as a leaf-mine on Anglesey last year, and soon after I found a mine at Kenfig (Glamorgan). I couldn't find any mines in Cardiff last year, but this year they have been present on Blackthorn suckers in two of my local parks.

After a trip to the Lamby Way recycling site yesterday I called in at Lamby Lake to look for leaf-mines. Lyonetia prunifoliella mines were frequent on Blackthorn suckers in several places, the larvae mostly having recently finished feeding and busy spinning their elaborate hammock cocoons (similar to those of L. clerkella) on the underside of leaves.

It could be anywhere in the county already, so well worth looking out for. It seems especially fond of suckering Blackthorn between 2 and 5 feet tall.

St Julian's 26th September 2023 

Sheila and I ran the Robinson MV overnight. This morning we recorded 22 species, including 78 Box-tree Moths, 1 migrant Palpita vitrealis (Jasmine Moth), a Green-brindled Crescent form capucina, 2 Silver Y, 3 L-album Wainscot, 5 Lunar Underwing, 1 Black Rustic, 1 Beaded Chestnut, one Sallow and a Beautiful Plume.

Box-tree Moth

Box-tree Moths

Palpita vitrealis

Green-brindled Crescent form capucina