In the short time I have engaged with this blog, which, incidentally, I love despite regular ear bashings from DW! , I have responded to posts about wings in traps, birds taking moths from outside traps and birds waiting for moth releases.
Today, while emptying the trap, I found something like 12/13 spare wings. This couldn't possibly be bird intervention.
As I got down to the bottom of the trap, I found six wasps, one in the process of cutting a wing off an unfortunate moth!
Wasps are, of course, carnivores, very handy for gardeners as their main food is caterpillars and I have a short video of a wasp cutting a small piece of chicken off the remains of my sandwich before flying back to the nest.
Alan Diver
Tackley.
A Blog for moth recorders in Bucks, Berks and Oxon
I had a minor influx of Harlequin ladybirds (20+) into my Harrow trap a few days ago - they seemed quite happy to eat moths, caddisflies and anything else that didn't get away - not sure if other people have had this. I remember the summer of 76 with the ladybird invasion then albeit nice native ones, and getting bitten on a beach.
ReplyDeleteI had some ladybirds a couple of days ago too. Along with a bunch of Carib beetles, Sheildbugs and of course Caddis Flies. I also get lesser water boatmen which I drop into our pond.
ReplyDeleteThe obvious predator to think about is the Hornet but I've had few problems with them in moth traps except on those rare occasions when 20 or more appear and they can get quite excitable - it is worth simply giving up and turning off the light when that happens. Wasps are another matter and even singletons can be bad news, but for the most part they seem to arrive around (or just before) dawn so I try to time closing up the garden trap to beat them appearing. Beetles can also be a nuisance, particularly the carabids which I had a major invasion of a week or two back. Not much you can really do about them!
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