It was chilly last night and it looks as though we've got another cold one to look forward to tonight, but there seem to be sufficient moths out there now to make trapping every night worthwhile whatever the conditions. Further species added to the 2018 garden list here have included White Ermine & Shuttle-shaped Dart (both 12th), Coronet (13th), Blood-vein, Treble Lines & Buttoned Snout (all 14th),
Tinea trinotella,
Esperia sulphurella,
Aproaerema anthyllidella, Common Swift, Oak Hook-tip, Figure of Eighty, Purple Bar, Red-green Carpet, Puss Moth, Cinnabar & Bright-line Brown-eye (all 15th) and
Cnephasia sp., Lesser Treble-bar & Buff Ermine (all 16th). The
Cnephasia (probably
communana which is generally the first to be recorded here, but like most of them requires dissection to get to species) and Lesser Treble-bar from last night are illustrated below, along with a fresh Mottled Pug from the same catch which most trappers will be getting soon if it hasn't appeared already. The Green Carpet is there to show that I don't only photograph grey moths! When fresh this is a stunning species.
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| Cnephasia sp., Westcott 16th May |
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| Lesser Treble-bar, Westcott 16th May |
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| Mottled Pug, Westcott 16th May |
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| Green Carpet, Westcott 15th May |
The night of the 15th saw the garden species count somewhere close to where it should be (41 recorded here) even though overall numbers still seem a bit depressed. The Buttoned Snout was certainly the best of the bunch mentioned above. It was found resting on our kitchen window upon my return from Ivinghoe but when I went outside to collect it into a pot the moth shot off, so annoyingly there is no photograph! This was the first seen here since 2006 even though we have plenty of hop in the garden.
Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks
I now have 5 hop plants in the garden and there're patches of "wild" hop nearby, but Buttoned Snout still eludes me!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the field guide, I see it is suggested there that house lights are a better bet than the light trap. The moth is probably in your garden already so keep watching those windows after dark - that outline can't really be confused with anything else!
ReplyDeleteOn that note I do wonder if led lights are as attractive as the old ones, but I can always put the outside (led) lights on, on nights I don't trap that area of the garden.
ReplyDelete