It's All Gone a Bit Quiet

Whilst the overcast and drizzly nights were excellent for mothing in my central Oxford garden, with the onset on our Indian Summer and clearer nights things have rather dropped off. What's more out moth-chasing kitten has adapted her tactics now that I've put the Actinic trap on top of a dustbin and she now loiters beneath the bin knocking out of the sky any moths that she can get. She's already dispatched a couple of Old Ladies and several Large Yellow Underwings this way.

I've got a few moth ID's for confirmation please - see below.

Adam

Found this on some waste ground early evening. I've had Endothenia marginana
suggested to me but would appreciate a second opinion.

I'm guessing that this is Mompha epilobiella

I suspect that this is just a Dusty Wave but it seemed
a bit big compared to the ones I usually catch

Maple Prominent, and help needed with a wave

Around 40 different species in my garden trap last night, and two new ones to add to my garden list. The first was a Maple Prominent -

And the second was Choreutis pariana (Apple Leaf Skeletoniser) -

I also had a light brown wave (pictured below) that I am unsure about. The forewing measures 12mm, so it seems too small to be a Riband Wave. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Westcott, by Royal Appointment

A very pleasant surprise on returning home in the early hours of this morning was to find the moth below resting on the cone of the Robinson trap here at Westcott, Bucks.  Martin Albertini, Peter Hall and I had trapped at Grangelands on Sunday night in prime Royal Mantle territory yet got none at all, then two nights later this female turns up in my garden which is a good 15 kilometres from the nearest chalk down-land.  I'm not complaining, though!  Last night's garden catch comprised more than 300 moths in a fairly reasonable spread of 45 species, although needless to say more than half the number of individuals (168) were Square-spot Rustic. 

Royal Mantle, Westcott 2nd September

 

The catch at Grangelands near Cadsden, Bucks on Sunday night was rather mediocre with about 60 species between six MV lights, the only noteworthy ones being Argyresthia semitestacella and Hedge Rustic.  Last night I ran two MV lights and a 15w actinic for three hours in the VC24 portion of Salcey Forest, on the border between Bucks and Northants, and got a pitiful collection of just over 100 moths of 35 species, the most numerous being Apotomis betuletana (28 caught).  Apart from the fact that there were no hornets (an unexpected pleasure in woodland at this time of year!), the saving grace there was the appearance of Oak Lutestring.  Six came to the MV lights, this being a species which is not at all easy to find in the northern half of Bucks these days.  The only other noteworthy item was a rather late example of Olive which came to the actinic.  Dave Wilton

 

Oak Lutestring, Salcey Forest 2nd September

Olive, Salcey Forest 2nd September

  

Sorting out Small Ermines

These are from July - I picked up one that looked a bit different and I wonder if it might be assigned to a specific species.

What I think I might have is

1. Y.padella on the basis of the ground colour

2. Y. evonymella on the basis of the number of spots.

3. Small Ermine agg - bad picture but I got alot of these pure white ones - it would be helpful to know what the choices are, e.g if it could be Y. malinellus or Y.cagnagella but not Y. evonymella or Y. padella

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Apple-leaf Skeletoniser

The first Apple-leaf Skeletoniser of the year turned up in our Beaconsfield garden yesterday but didn't stick around to be photographed. Today, it (or a friend) obliged by staying put on a Potentilla flower.

Dusky Thorn?

I was hoping last night this might be an August Thorn but I think it's a Dusky Thorn. Can someone confirm?

Otherwise not much else, got a Dark Sword Grass a few days back and a 2nd brood Flame this morning.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Maiden's Blush?

Caught this last night - failed to get into a pot but hopefully it's still identifiable. At first I thought it was an old Blood Vein but I'm thinking a battered Maiden's Blush?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Not the Robin

Species diversity has remained similar for a while now (between 25-35 species), but abundance has been increasing. A peak of 168 Large Yellow Underwings on Friday night was also accompanied by good numbers of Square-spot Rustics, Setaceous Hebrew Characters and Flounced Rustics and all the usual stuff, including my first of year Feathered Gothic. What was of greater interest, to me at least, was 9 Chinese Character around the MV trap this morning when the overall catch was considerably poorer than both Friday and Saturday night. I had to double check as they were all sat on the trap or near by on the foliage of recently uprooted and bagged trees ready for the move and looked from a distance like the Robin had used the trap as a toilet whilst gorging itself on LYU's. On closer inspection there was indeed some Robin poop, but hiding among it were the Chinese Characters. This is the most I've ever personally caught in one trap, I had thought 5 on Friday night was pretty good going. Marc Botham, Benson

Leafmines on Chenopodium album (Fat-hen)

Last year I found a leafmine on Chenopodium album (Fat-hen) of the gelechid Chrysoesthia sexguttella on my allotment in Walters Ash, Bucks.   Apparently, this is a very under-recorded species, with next to no records in Bucks.

This weekend, I was working on the allotment and removed a lot of Fat-hen, which I checked for mines.  I found tenanted mines of Chrysoesthia sexguttella  (left) again and a vacated mine of Chrysoesthia drurella (below). 

Chrysoesthia drurella is very under-recorded too.  As both mines are around now, and the host is abundant everywhere, it would be a good time to do a bit of leafmine hunting and get yourself a new species or two. 

More info on mines on Chenopodium album (Fat-hen) here: http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/Keys/CHENOPODIUM.php 

Neil Fletcher

At last!

Loosley Row, Bucks.

I finally caught a Red Underwing last night. Also of note were three White-points in the trap.

Nigel

Confirmations Please - catch 30-8-2014

hi, a few from last night.

I think I have

yet another form of Celphya lacunana

Eudonia angustea?

A White Point

Ypsolopha sequella

COAM Moths

Rob Payne and I ran a couple of MVs at Chiltern Open Air Museum last night. Nothing much had come in by the time we left, but on returning in the morning things were a little better.

The most numerous species were the same as everyone else is reporting, over 130 Large Yellow Underwings and 50-odd Square-spot Rustics, in a total of just under 500 moths of 59 species (not very many micros but a few are still with Rob...).

New for the year were Blood Vein, Feathered Gothic, Centre-barred Sallow and Frosted Orange, and also of note about 5 White Point.

Dave Morris

Rainy Conditions Bringing on the Moths

I've found that the rainy conditions have been rather good for trapping over the last few nights in my central Oxford garden. In fact two nights ago I got a near record count (for my garden) in the trap though it wasn't very diverse, being more than half made up of Large Yellow Underwings. There was an Old Lady in there though which is always nice to see. I've got three unknowns for the panel to look at, any help would be much appreciated - see photos below.

By the way, I think that I've solved the problem of our new kitten catching all the moths as they come to the light: I've put the trap on top of an upturned dustbin so it's much higher up now and as a result there are many more moths in the trap the next morning.

Adam

Perhaps a worn Common Rustic? It was about that size

About half the size of a Brown House Moth, perhaps a Bryotropha sp.?

Stumped by this, perhaps Blastodacna Hellerella?

Crassa tinctella?

hi, caught this last night. I had C.unitella previously but this one seems to lack the yellow head - maybe C. tinctella?

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

It is officially Autumn

We're definitely on the down-hill slope now ... the first Centre-barred Sallow of the season came to my garden actinic trap at Westcott, Bucks last night, heralding the appearance of lots more yellow species of Autumn.  It was by no means early, though (for example, last year's first sighting here was on 20th August).   Dave Wilton

Centre-barred Sallow, Westcott 28th August

Puzzle from outside our area

Apologies as this is outside our area, but I was stuck with this moth, caught in Cley last weekend. Posting here as help has been so rapid in the past.  Notebook lines included for scale!  Any advice appreciated.

Barnaby Briggs, Iver, Bucks

Loosley Row, Bucks

Amongst the 16 species attracted to our house lights last night was Clavigesta purdeyi which is a new species for the garden.

Nigel

Stoke Common, Bucks

A last-minute decision by Martin Albertini and I to run some traps at Stoke Common, Bucks last night didn't produce all that many moths but we did get a smart migrant Vestal, second brood examples of Peach Blossom and Light Emerald as well as double-digit counts of both Neglected Rustic and White-point.  Neglected Rustic is a heathland species and in Bucks is only found at Stoke Common and Black Park.  We saw the full range of its colour forms, from reddish-brown through dark grey to very light grey.  More than 20 White-points were caught between four MV lights so the moth is certainly a resident at the site, as it probably is elsewhere now in the southern half of the county.  Dave Wilton

Vestal, Stoke Common 27th August

Neglected Rustic, Stoke Common 27th August

Neglected Rustic, Stoke Common 27th August

White-point, Stoke Common 27th August

IDs Please (catch 27-8-2014)

Much beter night last night but I don't think there was anything new apart from my first Vapourer. Quite a few carpets after not seeing any for a month, Common, Garden, Green and Common Marbled.. 71 Large Yellow Underwings, 1 Broad Bordered and a few Lesser and Lesser Broad Bordered. A Chinese Character also.

The queries,

Celypha lacunana?

I had a couple of Diamond Backs but these looked bigger and different - 2 individuals.

Unknown 2 (2 pics)
Unknown 3 (2 pics)


Currant Pug?


Then two indiduals that seemed a bit different from the other Square Spot Rustics but maybe they are?

Oak Lutestring

First couple of Oak Lutestrings last night at Bagley Woods in among a moderate catch of 55 species which included 167 Large Yellow Underwing. Nothing else of interest except a good number (17) of Maidens Blush. In garden LYU numbers were also high, the highest so far this year at 102, and Maple and Coxcomb Prominents side by side were nice to see. Marc Botham, Benson

A new species for me ---

I ran my actinic trap up in Chilterns woodland last night, and was pleased to find a Hedge rustic in the trap this morning (alongside plenty of Large yellow underwings!) I also had a very nicely marked Herald moth hatch from a wild collected larva.

Herald moth

    Dave Maunder

Hedge rustic

Numbers still depressed

This week last year I was averaging 70 species per night in the garden at Westcott, Bucks.  Despite all the rain, last night saw a significant improvement in catch over those of the previous week or two but the total number of species still only just got past 50 - all rather depressing really.  The only encouraging thing was that nearly half of last night's total was made up of micro species because they've been noticeable by their absence recently.  Noteworthy items were another White-point, a Pinion-streaked Snout (my first here since 2006) and the customary example of Udea ferrugalis.  You'll be pleased to learn that a tour of the house exterior today produced no Red Underwings but I did manage to find a rather battered Old Lady instead.  Dave Wilton 

Pinion-streaked Snout, Westcott 25th August

Old Lady, Westcott 26th August

Not much to write home about...

Nothing much to tell other than a notable increase in Large Yellow Underwings and Flounced Rustics over last week or so, with peak of 82 LYU's last night. I can now consistently fit the entire night's list on half a page of A4 using just a single column. Red Underwings don't like where I live, I don't blame them, so despite what sounds like a pretty good year for them I have not yet seen one. Up in North Yorks at the weekend for a wedding I put a trap out in a friend's garden near Northallerton. Not much in it but a handful of Centre-barred Sallows and 2 Sallows gave me an idea of how close we are to Autumn now. Quite a bit further north so always out earlier, but the Sallows were quite worn. Marc Botham, Benson

Bits & Bobs

I had a good catch last night by recent standards with 28 Large Yellow Underwings being the highlight - certainly a record for my modest garden. Also of note were a Chinese Character and a Six-striped Rustic (a garden first). On Sunday on a walk out with the family we came across a Hawk Moth larva, probably Lime I am told (see photo). I also had what looks to me like a very worn Acrobasis species last night - it doesn't look like A. advenella as the inner central cross line seems to be angling in at the top and the head is not obviously red. I'd welcome any ID suggestions however tentative given its worn condition.

The delightful Chinese Character

probable Lime Hawk Moth Larva

worn possible Acrobasis species