New V35 county Micro confirmed

May 18th
Dewstow

Last month I tried a new spot to set up a trap, 'completely off the cuff' so to speak.
It surprised me just what turned up there, some new encounters.
The highlight of the evening ended up being a new micro to me although at the time it was not the case.
In fact it very nearly did not end up on the list for the night at all, for I had packed up my kit and was about the turn the ignition key in car when an outline of a small micro on the front windscreen captured my attention.
I raced around and coaxed it into a moth pot and thought nothing of it until the morning when I photographed it.

Pammene truniana (Maple Piercer) 'Scarce A' micro

After photographing it and a look around in my book, I came to the conclusion that Pammene regiana looked correct.
I had to send a gallery of micro moths pictures off to Sam Bosanquet a day or so later and decided at the last minute to include it, to get it confirmed as it was new to me.
He was happy with all my other suggestions of the other moths bar this one.
That's a Pammene truniana he said and a new micro for the county.

Apparent there are very few Welsh records and not a great deal of records Nationally from what I can gather on-line etc.(although I might be corrected on that) The micro tends to remain towards the top of Field Maple trees by day and occasionally it comes to light.
Considering there is quite a bit of Field Maple around it seems a bit odd it has not turned up more frequently.

Praying for better weather

I wouldn't normally have trapped last night (12/6) as it was quite cool, but we had holiday guests staying and I wanted to show them some moths.  In the end it was pretty mediocre, with 32 species, but our guests liked the furry Pale Tussock, twig-like Buff-tip and black & white Small Ermine.  My highlights were a Hawthorn Moth (Scythropia crataegella), which I have only seen once before at Dingestow and there are only 8 previous Gwent records, and 2 Heart & Club, which is my first here since 2007 and only the 3rd Dingestow record.  Both are presumably wanderers from the south of the county, but I wonder whether they might become established here if there's continued climate change...

 

It's always a bad sign when I start looking at Caddis rather than moths, because it indicates there aren't enough ID challenges among the moths in the trap!  A Phrygaena grandis was no ID problem though!

 

A visit to Caerwent

I have never been to Slade Woods and have never seen its special micros - Anania funebris, Ethmia dodecea and Eucosma aspidiscana - anywhere.  After a day working at the computer I thought it was time to correct these omissions and headed down to this significant moth hotspot.  Now I have been to Slade Woods, but I still haven't seen any of its special micros!  Luckily there were other things to see, especially in the quarry - Pancalia leuwenhoekella (photo, with white antenna bands to contrast with the other day's P. schwartzella), Heliozela hammoniella around birches, the brightly coloured Tortricid Lobesia reliquana (photo), Olindia schumacheriana and best of all Elachista gangabella (photo) new for Monmouthshire.  The Elachista was swept from a ride verge, but sweeping was otherwise rather unproductive and the majority of the micros that I encountered were netted in flight.

 

After Slade Woods I tried Brockwells Meadows SSSI, but this was very disappointing, with no real highlights in half an hour.  The same was true at New Grove Meadows last year, and I wonder whether haymeadow management might be good for flowers but bad for moths.  Luckily the day ended well, as I found a footpath along the top of Caerwent Quarry (ST472896), where Homoeosoma sinuella, Dichrorampha aeratana (male gen det, 4th Gwent record) and Endothenia ustulana (photo, new for Gwent) were netted in flight, and an Isotrichas rectifasciana (photo, new for Gwent) was spotted on a Hazel leaf.  The path edges with Marjoram and other flowers look perfect for diurnal Micro recording, and this site definitely needs more visits.

There are still loads of Micros that have been recorded in adjacent counties but not in VC35, and diurnal searching is an enjoyable way to find new things.

Night & day

Evening walks in the Penyclawdd/Cwmcarvan area (under-recorded for Micros) on 29th & 30th May were followed by MV trapping at Dingestow Court.  Both days/nights were pretty good.

Penyclawdd Wood 29/5 held clouds of Glyphipterix simpliciella and Coleophora caespititiella, but also some more notable species such as Cochylis nana (poor photo, 3rd VC35 record), Ancylis diminutana (photo) and Ectoedemia sphendamni.  Tiny round mines of Incurvaria pectinea (mostly excised but three with dead larvae) were new for the Dingestow area (Micro #509 here).

 
The MV in Dingestow Court garden produced 70 species on 29/5, with Lime Hawkmoth (photo), Orange Footman, 4 Plutella xylostella, 1 Nomophila noctuella, 1 Deltaornix torquilella and 1 Pseudoswamerdamia combinella among the highlights.  Star species was Anania (Opsibotys) fuscalis (photo) new for Dingestow (Micro #510) - a wanderer because Yellow Rattle doesn't grow here.  The origin of this moth is a bit of a mystery, as there are only 10 previous Gwent records and several of them are from good migrant/wanderer years.

An evening walk at GWT's Croes Robert Wood on 30/5 was a bit slow from a micro standpoint because there is little low foliage for tapping.  A couple of Eulia ministrana and the county's third record of Grapholita tenebrosana (photo) were the highlights, but all 13 species I found were new for this nearly blank tetrad.  I then headed to the relatively well-recorded Trellech Hill Quarry, where 8 Micros were new for the site, with Ancylis uncella (photo) the most noteworthy (4th county record).

The Dingestow Court MV was quieter on 30/5, with 50 species.  A May Highflyer (photo) was the star Macro, with 3 Nematopogon metaxella (photo) and a Coleophora mayrella being the best Micros.

Pancalia new for the county

The beautiful orange, black and silver micro Pancalia schwartzella was a surprise county first during an afternoon walk along The Tumble tramroad near Abergavenny yesterday.  Its relative, P. leuwenhoekella has 7 Gwent records from the south-east of the county; this one has a more northern British distribution and lacks white antennal rings.

 

The walk was pretty productive despite limited time and two children to entertain.  I also swept Ancylis myrtillana (photo) and Pleurota bicostella (photo; 2nd county record) from heathy areas, and netted a Pammene rhediella (photo; 6th county record) over Hawthorn.  Two Micropterix aureatella beaten from Hawthorn were new for western Gwent (bizarrely for a species that is often associated with Bilberry), and a Pyrausta cingulata was the first record from this site for 18 years.  It is now absolute peak season for diurnal Micro hunting, so please go out looking!!!!

 

  

Web surprise

On the drive to Hendre Woods yesterday, to look for Drab Looper, I nearly crashed the car when I saw a huge web in a laneside hawthorn hedge. 'Surely Small Eggar' I thought, and sure enough it proved to be. Martin tells me this is the first county record north of Caerleon, except for an adult record from Neil Horton's garden many years ago.

 

A few yards further along the same hedge, a spindle had been thoroughly webbed by the Spindle Ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella.

I saw 3 Drab Looper at Hendre, which was a relief after drawing a blank there in 2016.

IMPERIAL PARK

Mother Shipton & Small Yellow Underwing from rough ground next to work this morning. Both lifers so pleased to find them.