What a Gem again! Plus a shock new macro

Saturday night was another succesful night, with a good variety of moths. A much smarter Acleris schalleriana, Merveille du Jours ramping up, and another Gem, the third this year now.

 

The best moth went to a completely new species for me, a magnificient Streak, the first for cambs in 12 years! I was surprised how big they were, reminding me of a Broom-tip I was took in France many years ago.

The garden list is now 35 species off of 900. 

The weather stays fairly mild, misty and murky with nights still above 10 degrees, unbelievable really.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 626 species

02/11/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Streak 1 [NEW!]
Black Rustic 4
Clancy's Rustic 1
Cypress Carpet 1
Double-striped Pug 2
Feathered Thorn 5
Gem 1
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Merveille du Jour 5
November Moth sp 5
Red-green Carpet 3
Sprawler 1
Spruce Carpet 1
Willow Beauty 1

Micro Moths

Acleris schalleriana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Epiphyas postvittana 7

Streak

Acleris schalleriana

Cypress Carpet

Gem

 

What a Gem

Another rather respectable catch here on Friday night, with 16 species present.

No new species, but the 2nd Gem of the year, a female this time was well worth the effort of running the trap.

This is the first year that i've recorded this species in the garden.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 625 species

01/11/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Beaded Chestnut 1
Black Rustic 3
Blair's Shoulder-knot 1
Brick 1
Clancy's Rustic 1
Feathered Thorn 2
Gem 1
Large Wainscot 1
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Merveille du Jour 1
November Moth sp 2
Red-green Carpet 2
Willow Beauty 1

Micro Moths

Emmelina monodactyla 3
Epiphyas postvittana 9
Eudonia angustea 3

Gem

 

A multitude of Conistras & Carpets

A really good catch very similar to the previous night, with 19 species but quite a different cast of moths.

Best were two new species for the year, a smart Juniper Carpet and a red-shot Red-line Quaker.

 

Better still, there was a Cypress Carpet as well, this species also flies in the summer, which is when I recorded my first for the year.

 

The Conistra were out in force, the Chestnuts. All 3 were represented, Chestnut, Dark Chestnut & Black-spotted Chestnut, all 3 were previously recorded earlier on in the spring. 

 

The plume moth Emmelina monodactyla is rife at the moment, it was nice to see the different colourations, and the stunning Merveille du Jour continue to have a bumper year.

 

The weather still hangs on, but it's starting to cool down slowly now (about time really) i've never known such a mild Autumn. 

Night time temperatures still continue to hold above 10c.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 625 species

29/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Juniper Carpet 1 [NFY]
Red-line Quaker 1 [NFY]
Black-spotted Chestnut 1
Black Rustic 1
Blair's Shoulder-knot 1
Chestnut 1
Cypress Carpet 1
Dark Chestnut 1
Large Wainscot 3
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Merveille du Jour 4
November Moth sp 8
Red-green Carpet 4
Scarce Bordered Straw 1
Spruce Carpet 1

Micro Moths

Acleris sparsana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 4
Epiphyas postvittana 3
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1

Red-line Quaker

Black-spotted Chestnut & Dark Chestnut

Cypress Carpet

Dark Chestnut

Emmelina monodactyla

Juniper Carpet

 

Latest from the garden moth trap

It was a good start to last week in my garden, but it has taken this long to post about it, the main reason being that I haven't been able to photograph the selected species until Saturday! I kept opening the pots of the moths that were kept safely in the fridge, to provide fresh air for them.

I'm glad to say that all were released back into the wild safely today, albeit much later than I wanted to.

 

There was one new species for the year amongst a haul of 20 species, a lovely marked Mottled Umber.

 

Green-brindled Crescent & Black Rustics dominated the catch, with 7 and 6 examples respectively.

 

The return of a Dark Sword-grass was noteworthy, until I realised it was the same example I caught on the 23rd, 5 days earlier. There was no doubting it. Still my only record this year. 

The weather continued to be mild, particularly at night for the time of year, rarely dropping below 10c.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 623 species

28/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Mottled Umber 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 2
Barred Sallow 1
Beaded Chestnut 4
Black Rustic 6
Clancy's Rustic 1
Dark Sword-grass 1
Green-brindled Crescent 7
Mallow 1
Merveille du Jour 2
November Moth sp 3
Red-green Carpet 3
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Silver Y 1
Sprawler 2

Micro Moths

Acleris schalleriana 1
Cydalima perspectalis 1
Epiphyas postvittana 1
Eudonia angustea 1

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Acleris schalleriana

Beaded Chestnut

Dark Sword-grass

Mottled Umber

 

Warm Autumn

It has been ridiculously warm this past week, with highs of 19 degrees, most days have been above 16 degrees, certainly well above the average which hovers between 12-14 degrees, more like 10-12 by the end of the month.

At night it is still balmy, only one night this week did it drop below double digits. Some nights I have'nt run my trap because it's been nippy and and misty. 

 

Here are two catches from last week, which saw the first Dark Sword-grass of the year (late for a year first) and several Feathered Thorns.

Other notables included a late Hypsopygia glaucinalis, Ephestia species and Brimstone Moth.

 

The first seasonal Black-spotted Chestnut have also arrived.

The smattering of migrants continues, with regular Scarce Bordered Straw, Delicate and Udea ferrugalis.

Palpita vitrealis has had a bumper year here, the first yeah i've recorded this species.

I will continue to run my trap if it stays mild.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 622 species

23/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Dark Sword-grass 1 [NFY]
Feathered Thorn 2 [NFY]
Angle Shades 1
Barred Sallow 1
Black Rustic 2
Common Marbled Carpet 1
Delicate 2
Garden Carpet 1
Green-brindled Crescent 4
Large Wainscot 1
Large Yellow Underwing 2
Mallow 1
Red-green Carpet 4
Scarce Bordered Straw 1

Micro Moths

Acleris variegana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Epiphyas postvittana 3
Phyllonorycter messaniella 1

 

25/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Angle Shades 2
Beaded Chestnut 2
Black-spotted Chestnut 1
Black Rustic 1
Blair's Shoulder-knot 1
Brimstone Moth 1
Delicate 1
Feathered Thorn 2
Green-brindled Crescent 3
Large Wainscot 1
Large Yellow Underwing 3
Lesser Yellow Underwing 2
Mallow 1
Merveille du Jour
November Moth sp 1
Red-green Carpet 3
Scarce Bordered Straw 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1

Micro Moths

Blastobasis lacticolella 1
Ephestia sp 1
Epiphyas postvittana 4
Hypsopygia glaucinalis 1
Musotima nitidalis 1
Palpita vitrealis 2
Plutella xylostella 1
Udea ferrugalis 2

Large Wainscot

Dark Sword-grass

Feathered Thorn

 

Scarce Bordered Straw

Palpita vitrealis

Hypsopygia glaucinalis

Feathered Thorn

Black-spotted Chestnut

Marvel of the Day

A wet trap this morning was brightened up by the first 'Marvel of the day' Merveille du Jour moths to grace the trap this year. The 620th species recorded thus far. This figure is 23 species behind 2023 and a whopping 45 species behind 2022's total. Fordham, East Cambs

19th October 2024

Merveille du Jour

Another weeks mothing round-up

Still quiet, but some good moths still around, and plenty of migrants (which could also be home grown species now, who knows.

3 new species for the year this week, all on different days. Sprawler on Monday, November Moth on Tuesday & Acleris notana/ferrugana on Friday

Other notables included some late'ish flying species, Clepsis consimiliana, Blastobasis lacticolella, White-point and an odd Noctua retained for dissection (in case of it being tertria) It's a female, so we will see.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 619 species

15/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Sprawler 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 1
Black Rustic 1
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 3
Clancy's Rustic 1
Delicate 1
Garden Carpet 1
Green-brindled Crescent 1
L-album Wainscot 4
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1
Lesser Yellow Underwing 2
Mallow 2
Red-green Carpet 1
Sallow 2 f.flavescens
Scarce Bordered Straw 1
Square-spot Rustic 1
Willow Beauty 1

Micro Moths

Acleris variegana 1
Epiphyas postvittana 2
Palpita vitrealis 1
Phyllonorycter messaniella 1

 

16/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

November Moth sp 1 [NFY]
Black Rustic 2
Clancy's Rustic 5
Delicate 1
Green-brindled Crescent 1
L-album Wainscot 1
Large Yellow Underwing 4
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Red-green Carpet 1

Micro Moths 

Carcina quercana 1
Clepsis consimiliana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 1
Epiphyas postvittana 4
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1

18/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Black Rustic 6
Clancy's Rustic 1
Delicate 2
Green-brindled Crescent 2
Large Yellow Underwing 2
Lesser Yellow Underwing 2
Red-green Carpet 1
White-point 1

Micro Moths 

Acleris notana/ferrugana 1 [NFY]
Blastobasis lacticolella 1
Emmelina monodactyla 1
Epiphyas postvittana 5

Sprawler

Sallow f.flavescens

Noctua sp

November Moth sp

Clepsis consimiliana

Blastobasis lacticolella

White-point

Acleris notana/ferrugana

 

Weeks mothing round-up

This week hasn't been too bad at all in my garden, with warmer nights and extremely mild days (19c at the top end is silly for October).

I ran my trap on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday here, but won't run it for the next couple of nights as its set to drop to low single figures.

The best night of the week was Monday night with 35 species jotted down, probably an October species record for here (without checking for sure).

Just the 2 new species for the year, with a superb glinting Green-brindled Crescent and a rather plainer (but scarcer) Brick, in fact it's a new species for the garden!

Last night, the only moth of note was a mint Satellite, the first of the season.

 

Common migrants are still in great supply, with regular Scarce Bordered Straw, Palpita vitrealis, Clancy's Rustic, L-album Wainscot & Delicate. The latter 3 species are probably resident here now.

 

Wrap up, it's getting cold now until Sunday night at the earliest.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 616 species

07/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths 

Green-brindled Crescent 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 1
Beaded Chestnut 1
Black Rustic 2
Blair's Shoulder-knot 1
Brimstone Moth 1
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 2
Burnished Brass 1
Clancy's Rustic 3
Dark Spectacle 2
Delicate 1
Grey-pine Carpet 1
L-album Wainscot 3
Large Yellow Underwing 10
Lesser Yellow Underwing 3
Light Emerald 1
Lunar Underwing 2
Pale Mottled Willow 1
Pink-barred Sallow 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 4
Silver Y 1
Vine's Rustic 1
Willow Beauty 4

Micro Moths 

Acleris rhombana 1
Acleris sparsana 1
Aproaerema anthyllidella 1
Carcina quercana 1
Emmelina monodactyla 2
Eudonia angustea 1
Musotima nitidalis 3
Nomophila noctuella 2
Palpita vitrealis 1
Plutella xylostella 1
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 1
Udea ferrugalis 1

08/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Brick 1 [NFG]

09/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Satellite 1 [Season First]

Palpita vitrealis

Carcina quercana

Green-brindled Crescent

Musotima nitidalis

From Pale to Dusky!

With a cracker of a Pale-lemon Sallow yesterday night, imagine my excitement of finding a Dusky-lemon Sallow in the garden trap this morning!

I have never caught both in one year let alone a day apart, incredible.

It was extremely satisfying photographing the pair side by side.

Other good moths included several Delicate's, Scarce Bordered Straws, a single Clancy's Rustic and Scarce Bordered Straw. 

 

The robinson trap is really working much better than my storage box at retaining, and the trap had plenty of moths inside this morning.

 

A tiny Phyllonorycter messaniella was new for the year and what I thought was late, isn't actually in certain parts of the country, the peak flight season for them is now! A species of Phyllonorycter that multi-broods and possibly overwinters during mild winters.

A welcome yearly addition having seen my last one on the 29th June 2022! 

 

Today whilst releasing the moths in my garden from last night, I spied a lovely Grey Dagger caterpillar, my first of this species in larval form.

Milder conditions are here now, but it could be windy and wet.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 614 species

05/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Dusky-lemon Sallow 1 [NFY]

 

Micro Moths

 

Phyllonorycter messaniella 1 [NFY] 

 

Delicate

Pale-lemon Sallow & Dusky-lemon Sallow

Dusky-lemon Sallow

Grey Dagger Caterpillar

Phyllonorycter messaniella

Scarce Bordered Straw

 

A new moth for the garden, what a little gem

Mothing has been rather hit and miss lately, with very wet days and nights, followed by some milder days upto 16 degrees, but then followed by colder nights. Infact some nights have dropped as low as 4 degrees.

I ran the trap twice this past working week, on Wednesday and again last night.

I was rewarded with 3 new species for the year, with a lovely Pink-barred Sallow on Wednesday, and two much scarcer moths last night, one being new for the garden and the other a nationally scarce A species.

The new garden moth was a male Gem, this species is sexually dimorphic, meaning that the males differ from the females in markings. Sadly it was a rather worn out specimen, but the all count! It is the 863rd moth to be recorded in my garden so far.

The second really good moth was a year first Pale-lemon Sallow, never a common moth anywhere and I haven't heard any reportefd yet this year. It is my 2nd garden record after my first ever in 2021, so it's been missing for two years.

Other moths of note were the presence of several Blue Underwings on both nights, and L-album Wainscot & Clancy's becoming a regular occurence here now.

I couldn't also resist taking a snap of a nice fresh Red-green Carpet with its wings open.

Tonight could be worth a punt as well, good luck.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 612 species

02/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Pink-barred Sallow 1 [NFY]

04/10/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Gem 1 [NFG]

Pale-lemon Sallow 1 [NFY]

 

Tommie and Clif

Beaded Chestnut

Pink-barred Sallow

 

Pale-lemon Sallow

Gem

Red-green Carpet

A flurry of inland migrant activity

Finally the temperature at night was ok on Sunday night, and with lightish winds I had hoped of something new for the year, and indeed there was.

2 new species were added to the year list including a flurry of Scarce Bordered Straw.

 

Other possible migrants included 2x Delicate, 1x Clancy's Rustic and a Turnip Moth.

The trap has been off at the start of this week due to the heavy rain and floods.

I will try again soon.

Moth garden list for 2024 stands at 609 species

29/09/24 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Barred Sallow 1 [NFY]

Beaded Chestnut 1 [NFY]

Scarce Bordered Straws

Barred Sallow

Beaded Chestnut

Scarce Bordered Straw

Scarce Bordered Straw