Thursday 18 October 2018

December already!

My first December Moth turned up this morning, along with what I think is a Dark Chestnut?
Haven't trapped these before, but have been experimenting with Heath traps in different parts of the garden.
December Moth

Dark Chestnut?

3 comments:

  1. Hello Linda, I've only ever had one October sighting of December Moth locally out of 750+ individuals and that was on the 30th so your moth is definitely very early! This is a year when lots of records are being broken so I suppose it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

    I'm reasonably sure that your other moth is indeed Dark Chestnut. While the sharp ninety-degree angle between costa and termen is perhaps not as clear-cut as usual, having lightened your picture in Photoshop the greasy appearance is obvious and the small lighter-coloured dots along the costa become clear too. I'm getting them regularly in the garden at the moment, both on ivy and in the trap.

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  2. Thanks Dave. Interesting to hear about timings for December Moth, but as you say, this is an unusual year. I found it very hard to get a decent photo of the Dark Chestnut....it was too dark!

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  3. First 2018 December moth in Sibford last night (19th).

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