Possible Mottled Grey

I had this moth in my trap in Beenham Berks last night (19th March). Initially I thought that it was an Engrailed, but am now wondering if it could be a Mottled Grey? Any thoughts?

Thanks Derek

The smartest Orthosia

Amongst 16 species, last night's garden catch included Acleris literana, Double-striped Pug and, best of all, a nice fresh Blossom Underwing which were all new for the year.  I also had my second example of Ypsolopha mucronella this month and this one stayed around long enough to be photographed.

Ypsolopha mucronella, Westcott 19th March

Acleris literana, Westcott 19th March

Blossom Underwing, Westcott 19th March

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Turnip for the books

The best garden result of the year so far, with not far short of 100 moths brought to the conservatory windows last night by the twin-30wt actinic light.  I had to keep going out to pot them up during the first few hours because our local Brown Long-eared Bat population was particularly active and they would keep coming right up to the windows.  Perhaps it is time to start running a normal trap once again! 

The moths included three species new for the year, Caloptilia rufipennella, Oak Nycteoline and an unexpected Turnip.  This is the first time I've had Turnip so early (prior to last night the earliest being 3rd May 2007) and is suggestive of a migrant rather than a home-grown example, but who really knows in these strange times?!

Oak Nycteoline, Westcott 15th March

Turnip Moth, Westcott 15th March

The full list was Caloptilia rufipennella (1), Agonopterix heracliana (3), Agonopterix ocellana (1), Emmelina monodactyla (2), March Moth (4), Oak Beauty (1), Turnip Moth (1), Small Quaker (8), Lead-coloured Drab (5), Common Quaker (36), Clouded Drab (20), Twin-spotted Quaker (4), Hebrew Character (6), Satellite (1) & Oak Nycteoline (2).

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Unknown Moth Larva

Unknown Moth Larvae

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found this larva in the garden today, any idea as to ID?

Thanks

Peter

A couple more species

Nine species ventured out in the garden last night despite all that wind from Storm Gareth and it was nice to get something other than the Orthosias which had been making up the catch almost exclusively since the weekend.  The two new ones were Early Thorn and Red Chestnut.

Early Thorn, Westcott 13th March

Red Chestnut, Westcott 13th March

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Brimstone Moth

This Brimstone Moth greeted me as I returned from shopping to my east-facing porch in Chalfont St Peter, Bucks at 11.20am this morning.  It was still there an hour later.

Wendy Wilson

Grey Shoulder-knot.

Too windy and wet for my liking outside. I've run my garden trap once so far this year, catching some of the usual suspects.
This moth, however, turned up on my porch light, which is unusual in itself. Not all that unusual for most of you, I imagine, but, in around a decade of trapping, it's the first time I have ever seen this species.

Talking to Richard Ellis, who also lives in Chorleywood, VC 24, I was told he reckons to catch one in around every three years. My impression is that some contributors on here see it more often, or am I wrong about that? 

Psychidae moth larva at Dancersend

This morning I spotted a tiny (5mm) conical lump of lichen bits on a beech trunk at Dancersend. When I approached closer with my camera in macro mode it moved! I collected it and got more photos at home - not brilliant as I couldn't get the lighting right. I think it is one of the Psychidae, probably Luffia ferchaultella, but then spotted that Albertini and Hall had a record of Luffia lapidella on my Dancersend Moths master list. I thought this was the much rarer species, but I can see there's probably been some splitting in recent years. Will I need to breed it out to be sure? I also got a video of the front part of the larva trying to reattach itself to a twig, but not sure I can load this here.

Mick Jones

Westcott, Bucks

The lack of posts here over the past week presumably means that others are also getting little apart from Orthosia species.  Twin-spotted Quaker was added to the Westcott garden list on 28th February, taking the macro species count to 22 which is a record for the end of that month, then Lead-coloured Drab and Early Grey followed on 1st March, but there had been nothing additional until last night when a Dark Chestnut turned up.  There have been a few micro-moth additions, though.  Agonopterix alstromeriana and Epiphyas postvittana were first seen here on 28th February and have been followed by Ypsolopha mucronella (2nd March), Tortricodes alternella (3rd) and Diurnea fagella (5th).  Even during the coldest and wettest nights I've been averaging about 30 moths per session with Common Quaker now the most frequent.  As an example, last night's catch was fairly typical:  Small Quaker (9), Lead-coloured Drab (1), Common Quaker (15), Clouded Drab (4), Twin-spotted Quaker (2), Hebrew Character (6), Grey Shoulder-knot (1) plus the Dark Chestnut already mentioned.  If you haven't already, it is time to brush the dust off those traps!

Diurnea fagella, Westcott 5th March

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks   

Hummers

Two Hummingbird Hawk-moths reported to me this week, both in Bicester. One on Tues 26th and another today.

A better woodland evening

I ran a single MV trap once again for three hours in Shabbington Wood, Bernwood Forest last night and got a reasonable result with more than 600 moths appearing in that time.  If I'd been prepared to stay longer the total could easily have been far higher as Small Quakers in particular kept flooding in as I was packing up.  The micros were disappointing with only Tortricodes alternella putting in an appearance (although there were 98 of them).  The macro species total was perhaps a little disappointing too at only 13 but many of them turned up in reasonable numbers:  Yellow Horned (2), March Moth (5), Small Brindled Beauty (118), Pale Brindled Beauty (19), Oak Beauty (10), Spring Usher (102), Dotted Border (39), Small Quaker (184), Common Quaker (50), Clouded Drab (5), Twin-spotted Quaker (1), Satellite (1) & Chestnut (2).  During the second half of last year there was some noticeable variation in moth sizes with quite a few smaller-than-usual specimens putting in an appearance, possibly due to food-plant dessication during the long, hot summer.  This seems to have continued to affect the early spring species because there were some very small specimens last night, in particular of Small Brindled Beauty and both Small and Common Quaker.  The smallest example in the Small Brindled Beauty trio below had a wing length of just under 13mm.

Yellow Horned, Bernwood Forest 1st March

Small Brindled Beauty trio, Bernwood Forest 1st March

Back in the garden at Westcott, Bucks the catch also amounted to 14 species, of which Lead-coloured Drab and Early Grey were new for the year.  The Lead-coloured Drab was a particularly dark example.

Lead-coloured Drab, Westcott 1st March

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks  

Up and running

A very belated start to the trapping season for me in my Sonning garden on 26th Feb, but got off to a flier with 3 new garden records (despite 25 years of trapping), namely Grey Shoulder-knot, Satellite and this lovely Dotted Chestnut. Also caught Common Quaker, Hebrew Character, Clouded Drab, Oak Beauty and this strongly marked Small Quaker.

                                                                       Small Quaker

Dotted Chestnut

Westcott, Bucks

Agonopterix ocellana was amongst several moths disturbed from vegetation in the garden yesterday when I mowed the lawn (...first time I can recall doing that in February here!), while 35 moths of 14 species came to light overnight which seemed like quite a reasonable result:  Agonopterix heracliana (3), Emmelina monodactyla (1), March Moth (1), Shoulder Stripe (1), Spring Usher (1), Dotted Border (2), Early Moth (2), Pine Beauty (1), Small Quaker (2), Common Quaker (13), Clouded Drab (5), Hebrew Character (1), Satellite (1) & Chestnut (1).  Of these, Pine Beauty and Small Quaker were first sightings for the year.  As with Neil a few days ago, the very welcome Pine Beauty is by no means a regular here.  Daytime temperatures may be down to more realistic figures now but some cloud cover means nights generally staying above freezing so, now that they're off the mark, I suspect Orthosia numbers in particular will continue to build.

Pine Beauty, Westcott 27th February

Small Quaker, Westcott 27th February

Ignoring the micros, prior to this year the average number of macro-moth species recorded in the garden by the end of February was exactly ten and the highest number ever achieved here was 14 in 2017.  So far in 2019 I'm on 20 with one night still to go.  It has been an unbelievable year already... 

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Migrant reaches Bucks

Nothing to shout about really, but it is good to know that at least one moth from the recent wave of migrants got to our area!  Ched George had this Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella to his garden trap in Radnage, Bucks on 25th February:

Milton Keynes Hummer

On 25 February Mark Baker spotted a Humming-bird Hawk-moth at daffodil flowers in his Milton Keynes garden.
This is the earliest ever date for Bucks, the previous one having been 13 March 2016.
There have been other sightings this year in other parts of the country.
Thanks to Mark for letting me share this record.

What do I know from Newport Pagnell?

After spending 10 minutes scraping ice off the car before 0700hrs this morning, I was thinking why did I set traps at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve last night?  When I arrived all was white, it being colder there than where I scraped the car.  153 moths later I knew why.  OK, 136 were Common Quakers, 9 were Clouded Drab, 2 Oak Beauty,2 Hebrew Character and singletons of Dotted Border,  Twin-spotted Quaker, March Moth and Yellow Horned (See below)  The latter was last seen by me on 18 April, 1996.

That is why,  joy abounds and it is only February.

Grey Shoulder-knot

With our current southerly airstream, lots of interesting migrants have been turning up on the coast over the past week or two.  Even though few of them have been venturing this far inland I thought I'd try the MV as well as the actinic in the garden last night to see if it made any difference to the catch - the answer was very little!  Most moths still came to the actinic and the only new one to the MV was a Grey Shoulder-knot tempted out of hibernation.

Grey Shoulder-knot, Westcott 24th February

Another Shoulder Stripe came to the actinic and this example was in much better condition than the one seen on the 21st.  Looking rather different to the illustrations in the Field Guide, it showed the stunning purplish colouring seen regularly on fresh specimens here.  

Shoulder Stripe, Westcott 24th February

Another 2mm Nepticulid was potted up yesterday afternoon from the outside of a downstairs window which is about six or seven metres away from our Norway Maple Acer platanoides.  It looked identical to the last one found on 16th February so I won't upload another poor-quality image here, but Stigmella aceris seems to be a likely candidate.  Just what these moths are doing flying around in February is anyone's guess.

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Box bug?

Following Advice from DW, think Box bug.

Alan Diver

Tackley.

Early arrival is a first for me

There was much talk of moths at yesterday's Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group meeting, and it inspired me to get the moth trap out last night. I didn't get any of the rare migrants that have apparently been reported from the south coast recently, but I did get a new species for the Great Kimble garden: Early Moth, not previously recorded during the 14 years I've been here.

In fact, 2019 is the first time I've recorded Early Moth anywhere since 1999! I saw one in Shropshire last weekend and now this one posing on my garden shed. I guess it is one of those moths whose beauty is on the subtle side, but I was very pleased to see it.

Bug

Still very quiet for moths in Tackley, Hebrew character, few common quakers and spring ushers and, what I think might be, a dock bug Coreus marginatus?

Alan Diver,

Tackley.

Pine Beauty

I know it is not a rare moth, but I was pleased to find this Pine Beauty Panolis flammea in the trap this evening.

This is only the 4th record I've had in 20 years here.

Neil Fletcher
Walter's Ash, VC24

Brindled Beauty?

Image as requested.

Steve Lockey (Garsington)

Further Garden Moths

Here at Westcott I've continued to add further moths to the 2019 garden list with the arrival of Hebrew Character (19th), Clouded Drab (20th) and Acleris hastiana & Shoulder Stripe (both 21st).  Shoulder Stripe varies a lot and can be a particularly stunning moth, but my example wasn't one of the prettiest forms!  It is usually on the wing in March and April and this individual does beat my earliest garden record by three days (24th February 2012), but I've had one as early as 4th February in local woodland.

Acleris hastiana, Westcott 21st February

Shoulder Stripe, Westcott 21st February

Clouded Drab, Westcott 20th February

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Burial Park Moths

After getting the light fixed for the trap at Chiltern Woodland Burial Park, the moths have started flooding in (well, within reason anyway).
This morning, 5 x Tortricodes alternella, 5 x March Moth, 2 x Dotted Border, 2 x Small Brindled Beauty and 1 x Chestnut.

Also at Chiltern Open Air Museum on Monday, I found an indoor Double-striped Pug.

Dave Morris
Seer Green

Esperia sulphurella

Surprised to find an Esperia sulphurella in my garden trap this morning.  I've not seen one in February before.  The photo is not so good but I think you can make out the white rings half way along the antennae.

Others in the trap were Common Quaker and Acleris cristina (both firsts for the year) and a Chestnut.

Richard Ellis

Chorleywood

Woodland moths

I took an MV trap to Shabbington Wood in Bernwood Forest for a few hours last night but it probably wasn't worth the effort due to the lack of promised cloud cover, that bright full moon and mist which formed when the temperature plummeted.  Just eight species came to light and Spring Usher was the only one to appear in the expected numbers:  Tortricodes alternella (35), Small Brindled Beauty (34), Pale Brindled Beauty (26), Oak Beauty (2), Spring Usher (170), Dotted Border (14), Common Quaker (5) & Chestnut (3).  The Spring Usher total included five females (quite variable in their markings) which I found underneath the sheet at packing up time, while the Dotted Border total included a mated pair.

Small Brindled Beauty, Shabbington Wood 17th February

Spring Usher female, Shabbington Wood 17th February

Spring Usher female, Shabbington Wood 17th February

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Tinea sp

This tineid appeared in the house today. I get quite a few T.pellionella, mainly in the summer months, but this seemed slightly different in that it was obviously quite big c10mm in length. Also, when potted, it was much less active than T.pellionella normally is here (maybe because it's colder?). I took a record shot, but managed to drop the specimen behind the radiator, so am waiting for it to reappear to pot up for Peter.

Could it be T. pallescentella based on size, or can T. pellionella get this big? The wing also looks more mottled than I am used to seeing on pellionella.

Adam Bassett
Marlow Bottom

This week's garden records

No surprises, but here at Westcott moths (plural) have continued to appear at the conservatory windows each night over the past week, brought to them by the actinic light being run indoors.  The week's total has comprised Agonopterix heracliana (9), March Moth (2), Pale Brindled Beauty (9), Oak Beauty (1), Spring Usher (5), Dotted Border (2), Early Moth (5), Common Quaker (1) & Chestnut (1).  The Oak Beauty on Friday night and Common Quaker last night were firsts for the year.  Oak Beauty doesn't appear annually here and this is my first ever February garden record (out of just over 30 over the years), but it can be out at any time from January onwards in local woodland.

Oak Beauty, Westcott 15th February

Common Quaker, Westcott 16th February

Another tiny (2mm) Nepticulid was found wandering around on a window indoors yesterday and it looks as though it may be a different species to the one found in similar circumstances on 6th February.  I'm intrigued to know what it is and where it might have come from, especially at this time of year.  I haven't retained any leaf mines indoors this winter and there have been very limited opportunities for anything to fly into the house from outdoors, so perhaps it has emerged from cut flowers or pot plants.  We'll see. 

Nepticulid sp., Westcott 16th February

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Westcott, Bucks

Things are still ticking over here, probably more so than usual for February even though we've had some poor weather.  Last night's collection of moths brought to the conservatory windows by the twin-30wt actinic light was fairly typical and comprised March Moth (1, first of the year here), Pale Brindled Beauty (3), Spring Usher (1), Dotted Border (1) & Early Moth (2).  Pale Brindled Beauty and Spring Usher are both having their best winter ever here.  None of the Orthosia species has been seen yet but I'm sure they'll start arriving soon enough.  Micros have been in short supply with only Ypsolopha ustella and Agonopterix heracliana putting in appearances so far, but I did find a tiny Nep (wing length only 2mm, so not the best of pictures below) wandering around indoors on our bathroom window a couple of days ago.  That could prove interesting and is the first moth of 2019 potted up for Peter Hall to dissect so I should find out what it is in about a year's time! 

March Moth, Westcott 9th February

Nepticulid sp., Westcott 6th February

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks

Oak Beauty & Dotted Border

The garden actinic light attracted 5 moths last night. 3 Pale Brindled Beauty, and 2 new additions for 2019 - 1 Oak Beauty and 1 Dotted Border.

Oak Beauty - Cookham 07-Feb-19

Dotted Border - Cookham 07-Feb-19

Meanwhile, Early Moth continues to avoid my garden. I have only ever recorded two, both in February 2017.

Steve Trigg, Cookham

Clouded Drab

Just started putting out the trap again, not much, a couple of Pale Brindled Beauties yesterday, this morning a Clouded Drab.

Mark Griffiths, Garsington, Oxford

Back to the Moths...

After a warmish day which saw off the last of the snow, it was highly likely that the first part of last night would produce something before the temperature hit zero degrees again, so I ran the twin-30wt light inside our conservatory.  Sure enough, the moths started to appear at the windows soon after dark and by 10pm I'd had Pale Brindled Beauty (11), Spring Usher (1) & Chestnut (1) along with ichneumonid wasp Ophion obscuratus (1).  The only subsequent additions during the night were further singletons of Pale Brindled Beauty and Spring Usher to give a final total of 15 moths - not a bad result in the garden after two weeks off, even if there was nothing new for the year.

Westcott, 4th February

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks 

Merton Moths 2018

I’ve been trapping for about 20 years in my garden which is quite large, in a rural location, backing onto pasture. This area is pretty low lying, prone to flooding, but obviously much drier in 2018. I usually run a 125MV Robinson trap once a week for the Garden Moth Scheme and then trap on another night in between. I only trap from the beginning of March to the end of October when I’m at home. I have to run the MV trap up close to the house, where it can be quite windy, to avoid disturbing neighbours. I’ve started using 6W Heath traps for the ‘in-between’ nights as I can move them around in the garden and put them in more sheltered spots. The garden has quite a lot of hedge, shrubs, fruit bushes, some poplars, horse chestnuts and a couple of small apple trees, plus two small ponds. 2018 was a better year compared with the previous few years but comparisons are not that straightforward. Prior to 2013 I kept records on paper, mainly focused on number of species. I’ve yet to find the time to total up the individual moths trapped, but have the impression that overall numbers have greatly declined since I started (using only a Heath trap for the first 10 years), though variety of species has not. In 2018 I ran the MV trap 35 times and the Heath traps 31 times, total, 64. This is more than the next highest number of trap nights, since starting electronic personal records, of 55 nights in 2013 (all MV). I have been interested to see if different species come to traps in different parts of the garden and different types of lights. I don't think I can say anything definite as yet. I wonder what other people have found? Overall I trapped 240 species in 2018, compared with 225 in 2017, 3920 individuals, compared with 2574 in 2017. There were 9 new macro moths (not previously trapped since 1998) including personal highlights such as Clifden Nonpareil and Dark Spectacle as well as December Moth and L-Album Wainscot and a number of new micros. Agriphila geniculea and the Setaceous Hebrew Character topped the list with 264 and 262 individuals respectively.