Passenger (but not here)

Don't get excited. This isn't an Oxfordshire moth and I hope it isn't against the regs to show it. I just wanted to thank Andy King very much for identifying it from my Corfu holiday haul, mentioned in my last post here. It hadn't occurred to me (dim or what?) that this moth, photographed twice at Kalami on the north east coast of the island last week, might be in WT&L. But there it is on page 337 - the Passenger, Dysgonia algira, next to a very similar species which I greatly covet on account of its name: the Geometrician. Alas, I am unlikely to see a Passenger here. There are only some ten UK records according to my WTL (1st edition). But the way things are warming up, you never know. Many thanks, Andy.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Vestal in Walters Ash

Almost the last moth out of the trap this morning was a Vestal which was a very pleasant surpprise. Only my 5th record of this species here, though 2 were last year.  Neil Fletcher

Westcott, Bucks

Having had Sallow and Pink-barred Sallow back on 3rd September and then Large Wainscot on the 5th, further autumnal species in the garden trap here at Westcott have included Frosted Orange (10th), Lunar Underwing (11th) and Deep-brown Dart (12th).  Last night's catch of 40 species included fresh examples of a few which I don't always get as second broods:  Archips podana, Epiblema uddmanniana, Eudonia pallida, Acentria ephemerella & Light Emerald, while over the past few days I've also had Least Carpet (11th), Riband Wave (10th) and Lilac Beauty (9th). 

Square-spot Rustic continues to fill the trap, with 101 counted last night.  That takes the garden total past 1,100 since the first example on 12th August.  Large Yellow Underwing, on the other hand, has managed only 766 individuals and has been going since the end of May.  Lunar Underwing usually gives Square-spot Rustic a run for its money here so it will be interesting to see how that species does this year.  Dave Wilton

Deep-brown Dart, Westcott 12th September

Pink-barred Sallow, Westcott 12th September

Epiblema uddmanniana, Westcott 12th September

Flounced Rustic?

This one seemed a little bigger and different from the other Flounced Rustics - I'd appreciate a second opinion.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Quiet in Oxford

All rather quiet here in central Oxford. In fact with the clear nights recently I haven't even been bothering though now that we've had some cloud again I put the trap out and was rewarded with a mere smattering of moths including a Small Ranunculus which was new for the year.

Small Ranunculus

I've come across a couple of moth larva on my daily walks which have been ID'd thanks to Bird Forum. I thought that I'd share them with you by way of some variety from the usual winged adults

Bright-line Brown-eye

Knot Grass

Brass band

Hello from Thrupp where the yellow sweater has been snatched by Burnished Brasses, interestingly. Maybe the ten of them in the MV trap was a result of putting it out very early as I gather from WT&L that they enjoy flying at dusk. I hope I am right in saying that the pair above show the two forms aurea (foreground) and juncta.  A more appropriate candidate for the yellow sweater, the Brimstone moth, took second place. Meanwhile I have a marathon ID-ing job in hand after holidays and if anyone knows anything about the moths of Corfu and can help me here, I'd be most grateful.  Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon

Cookham update, and help with 2 micros

With the temperature dropping to 8 degrees last night, as expected there were fewer moths in the garden trap this morning (72 individuals, comprising 35 species). Even Large Yellow Underwing was down to just 12. There were however a couple of macros new for the year - Feathered Gothic and Lunar Underwing - and also one new micro - Beautiful China-mark (Nymphula nitidulata) pictured below.

I have a couple of small micros that I would like help with. They both had forewings measuring between 5-6mm.
The first I think is Aspilapteryx tringipennella?

The second I am not sure about, but I suspect it may be a candidate for the chop?

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Toadflax Brocade

Disappointingly, no Toadflax Brocade has visited my weekly garden trap this year. However, yesterday I spotted 2 caterpillars on some Purple Toadflax in my garden which I think are Toadflax Brocades. Below is a photo of one of them.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

IDs (From July)

I came accross these while sorting out all my pictures from July.

I think the first is a worn July Highfyer

The second one of the  Swammerdamia/ Paraswammerdamia - but is it possible to say which one?

The last one looks familiar but I've not found it.(two shots of the same individual - the first has Dark Arches in the background for scale).

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Ups and downs

I imagine the last week or so here in Wolvercote, Oxon, has mirrored what happened elsewhere: quite a spike on 4th and 5th September (almost 200 individuals on the first night), and a fall-off since, with last night in particular feeling autumnal. And, of course, Large Yellow Underwings and Square-spot Rustics really coming into their own... We've recorded both species of Copper Underwing (I'm pretty confident of IDing them when I can catch them), and as well as some typical autumn species (Dusky Thorn, Centre-barred Sallow), we're getting a few summer species indulging in a second brood - a rather handsome Heart and Dart in the trap this morning came as a surprise.

There are a few queries from the last week below - as ever, any confirmation or suggestions would be much appreciated. First of all, a rather poorly-marked pug, which could be a Currant Pug; what I suspect might be an earlyish Chestnut (unless it's another Square-spot Rustic); an individual which turned up on two consecutive nights, looking like a Common Wave, but with the dots on the hindwing suggesting something more like a Lesser Cream Wave (except it's surely too late for that?); a presumed Acleris rhombana; a presumed male Bulrush Wainscot; and a Caloptilia species of some sort, 7-8mm long. Steve and Xander Goddard.

Poorly-marked pug, 4/9/14

Possible Chestnut, 3/9/14

Possible Lesser Cream Wave, 5/9/14

Possible Acleris rhombana, 4/9/14

Presumed male Bulrush Wainscot, 6/9/14

Presumed Caloptilia sp., 4/9/14

I've been rather quiet on this new website but report numbers from my Radnage garden trap on Friday 5th September.
15 presumed Ophion obscuratus. 2 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing. 1 Common Rustic.
11 Chinese Character. 2 Garden Pebble. 1 Straw Dot. 9 Feathered Gothic. 1 Mouse.
37 Brimstone. 3 Angle Shades. 1 Copper Underwing sp. 1 Ruby Tiger. 1 Blood-vein.
1 DARK SWORDGRASS. 4 Centre-barred Sallow. 134 Square-spot Rustic. 1 Oak Hook-tip.
1 Grey / Dark Dagger. 3 Flame Carpet. 4 Common Marbled Carpet. 3 Snout. 1 variegana.
1 MAPLE PROMINENT. 1 Double-striped Pug. 9 Setaceous Hebrew Character. 1 postvitana.
121 Large Yellow Underwing. 3 White-point. 1 Black Rustic. 1 Burnished Brass. 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart. 1 BARRED HOOK-TIP. 5 Flame Shoulder. 1 Heart and Dart. 1 Flounced Rustic. 2 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing. 1 Turnip. 4 Common Wainscot. 1 Vine's Rustic. 1 pinella.
              I had 1 Cypress Pug on August 26th.
Ched George.

Peppered Moth

Ten minutes of heavy rain just after the traps had been set out put paid to much moth activity at Burnham Beeches, Bucks last night, particularly as the skies then cleared and it got cold very quickly.  Martin Albertini, Andy King, Jeremy Palmer and I ran seven lights there for a public "creatures of the night" event but between us we managed less than 40 species, few of which had turned up by the time the visitors passed through!  The only moth of real interest was a solitary Neglected Rustic caught in the main area of heather (only the second record for the site following one found in the Rothamsted Insect Survey trap there back in August 2009).  However, fresh examples of Red-green Carpet and Peppered Moth were also noteworthy.  The field guide suggests that Peppered Moth has one protracted generation between early-May and late-August, but this example must surely have been an attempt at a second brood.  I haven't seen one anywhere since 29th July.

On an altogether different subject, there's a record here which the County Moth Recorder for Bucks needs to chase up!  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-28939053

Dave Wilton
 

Mursley moths

Getting some nice moths again now, amongst the swarms of Large Yellow Underwings! Canary-shouldered Thorn is becoming a regular, but no August or September Thorns. A new one yesterday was Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana.

There are a couple of queries:

I think this must be a particularly vivid white form of Acleris variegana. I had never noticed the tufts before.

I had a lot of trouble searching for this one in the books. I can only think it is a very faded White-banded Carpet. Any thoughts?
Mick Jones

White-point

I had a couple of this species to my garden trap here in Aylesbury a few days ago - a garden first for me, but i wonder if they are migrants or is there a local population building in Bucks? Dave Maunder

White-point, 5-9-2014

White-point, 5-9-2014

Back Home - Green Silver-lines & Small Ranunculus

Having spent most of the last 12 months in Sweden, I've had little to report, but on returning at the end of August was keen to get an idea of what was around in my East Oxford back garden. Pretty much as expected, but the night of 4 September was a highlight, with beautiful warm, still, overcast conditions. Among 176 moths of 28 species (a big total for my slightly leaky Actinic) there were signs of immigration with one each of Silver-Y, Rusty-dot Pearl and Diamond-back Moth. The pick of the bunch otherwise were my second record (first since July 2011) of Small Ranunculus and what I took at first to be Scarce Silver-lines which appeared sitting on the outside of the trap at c. 2330. I've edited this post to reflect Marc Botham's helpful comments (below) that this is actually a Green Silver-lines - also a first record for my garden. I was misled by the fact that it had only two parallel white lines & lacked the red hind edge to the forewing and white stripes on thorax; a bit of googling turns up the occasional example of Green Silver-lines looking like this. Still, as Dave Wilton points out below, it just goes to show that the statement 'unmistakeable' - found in Waring and Townsend for both species - is at jeopardy when relative beginners are let loose!

Small Ranunculus, East Oxford, 4 Sept 2014

Green Silver-lines, East Oxford, 4 Sept 2014

Ben Sheldon

Twitter: @Ben_Sheldon_EGI

Large Wainscot

There were fewer species (37) to the garden actinic at Westcott, Bucks last night but they did include a new one for the year list, a smart Large Wainscot.  This reminds me that I haven't seen Small Wainscot anywhere yet this year, which is rather unusual although there's still plenty of time for it to appear.  I can now rival Marc Botham's Chinese Character counts because 19 came to the trap last night - an unprecedented number for this site!  Dave Wilton

Large Wainscot, Westcott 5th September

White Shouldered House Moth?

Thinking this is just a worn individual. Curiously I found I failed to add this to my moth list previously so this would represent one more tick as a I crawl towards the aspirational 300 species target for my first year of trapping.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford.

Mursley moths

I'm continuing to run my Skinner trap every few days in my small Mursley garden. Over the last couple of days I've been pleased to catch (and identify!) Feathered Gothic, Centre-barred Sallow, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Small Ranunculus, amongst others. I've now recorded 206 species, but of course iRecord is still flagging up around 30 of these as 'coordinate outside known 10km range' and others are flagged as needing expert checking. Still. I'm enjoying it.

A few I've been stuck on over the last couple of days:

Is this just a pale form of Yellow Shell?

Could these be Chestnut? It seems too early and no dark mark next to the kidney.

Is this a Southern Wainscot?

Could this be a faded Currant Pug?

Sorry if these are stupid questions.
Mick Jones

Definitely better results last night

I ran two MV lights at our Holtspur Bottom reserve near Beaconsfield, Bucks for three hours last night and managed to pick up more than 90 species, far exceeding my expectations.  There was nothing all that exciting but it was nice to see Mocha yet again, an Old Lady put in an appearance and White-point is obviously resident here (as it is elsewhere in the county now) because 24 of them were trapped.  Square-spot Rustic was busiest at both traps with 243 caught.  Second place went to Feathered Gothic with 94 and third to Brimstone Moth with 64, relegating Large Yellow Underwing to fourth place with a mere 55.  Copper Underwing appeared in surprising numbers with 17 caught; ten of these slippery critters had their hind-wings checked and all of them were indeed Copper Underwing (I've not personally seen Svensson's anywhere yet this year).  The signboard by the gate above Triangle Bank was seen to have three cases of Psyche casta under its roof (quick work by the moth as the boards haven't been there all that long).  If I'd thought to take my camera with me I would have photographed a female of the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi which had a web right next to where I'd placed one of the traps.  Slowly spreading northwards, the species has been a Holtspur resident for at least the last couple of years but this was my first sighting.  I hadn't appreciated just how impressively large it is - it puts our Tegenaria house spiders to shame!         

 

For 66 species to appear in the garden trap at Westcott, Bucks last night was also quite pleasing after the depressing catches here during August.  42 of them were macros and, while there was nothing new for the year (having had Sallow and Pink-barred Sallow the previous night), the catch included another Pale Eggar, second-brood examples of Oak Hook-tip, Small Dusty Wave, Heart & Dart, Nutmeg and Poplar Grey and my second Pinion-streaked Snout of the year.  Amongst the micros was a garden first-timer in the shape of Pandemis cinnamomeana with its distinctive white head, while singletons of Plutella xylostella, Udea ferrugalis & Nephopterix angustella also appeared (the first two are "migrants" but both have been regulars here for some weeks now).  Square-spot Rustic numbers rose to 379 (I must remember to throw in a few more egg-boxes tonight!) but there were only 37 Large Yellow Underwings which, unlike Marc's garden results, is about the highest nightly total I've had so far this year.  The other abundant species here at the moment are Brimstone Moth, Common Wainscot and Setaceous Hebrew Character, with Feathered Gothic numbers also starting to build, while Flame Shoulder, Small Square-spot and Flounced Rustic are winding down already.

Dave Wilton

Pandemis cinnamomeana, Westcott 4th September

   

Confirmation / IDs Please (4/9/2014 catch)

It seems after many weeks of now new species for me I got some last night. Also a few I'd previously got as singletons back in July.

I think I have

Scorched Carpet

Centre Barred Sallow

Eudonia pallida?

Finally a Wainscot I'd like an opinion on - the underwing looked pale when it flew off.


Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Burial Park

Much lower numbers at the Burial Park, but the same species as everyone else is getting, except I was pleased to find this Antler Moth in this morning's trap.

Dave Morris

Still going up

LYU numbers this morning in garden = 222, constituting a considerable percentage of the overall total of moths which was just over 550. Square-spot Rustics were not as abundant as at Dave's, they never are here, but largest total so far this year with over 70. On top of that were 29 Brimstone and 15 Chinese Character of note among modest numbers of all the usual suspects with just 42 species overall and the best being my first Frosted Orange of the year.

2.5 hrs trapping at Aston Rowant last night following some botanising with fellow CEH colleagues (though I missed the botany after locking myself out my car temporarily and thus turning up late) yielded a fairly unimpressive species list of just over 40, but notable were well over a hundred Feathered Gothic, the most I've ever seen in one haul and the most numerous species despite Square-spot Rustics trying their hardest. Quite a few Chinese Character and dozens of Brimstone there as well but nothing unusual and best moth was the lovely little plume moth, Hellinsia (Euleioptilus) carphodactyla, though first Hedge Rustic in years was very nice too. Marc Botham, Benson

Ditto

We were away for most of the latter part of August, but our catches since then in Wolvercote, Oxon, have largely reflected what others have observed, though usually on a smaller scale. So with us, too, Large Yellow Underwings have finally started to turn up in decent numbers - 28 on 31st August - and there's been a mini-surge of Chinese Characters (not in comparable numbers to other peoples', but regularly, and with a couple on one occasion). A few new species for the year have shown up - a couple of Copper Underwings on 30th August and an Angle Shades on 2nd September - and there have been a couple of surprises: notably what I'm pretty sure is an Engrailed on 31st August - is a second generation usual around here? There have been (only) a couple of real uncertainties, shown below. The first, which has shown up on a couple of evenings, seems likely to be Gracillaria syringella; the second presumably a snout species of some sort, but I can't decide which (if any). All suggestions gratefully received. Steve and Xander Goddard.

Presumed Engrailed, 31/8/14

Possible Gracillaria syringella, 31/8/14

Unknown, 1/9/14