Breaking Down

Summer coming to an end? Probably..

The last week of August was back to a typical English summer, warm spells intertwined with wind and rain and cooler nights were becoming the norm.

I can't lie and grumble, we've had a bloody good run of moth crazy temperatures here in the east.

 

Two catches on the 22nd and 23rd are featured below.

 

I was still catching around 40 species per night, but lots of repeats.

 

Just 1 new species on both nights, one larger moth and one dinky one.

 

Other than that, a few dark Flounced Rustics were photographed, and my 2nd Delicate of the year was noteworthy. 

 

Currently mothing is quite poor. I still have yet to tap into any decent migrant moths so far this year, will my time come before year end?

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 622 species

22/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Centre-barred Sallow 1 [NFY] 

23/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Cydia splendana 1 [NFY] 

 

Flounced Rustic

Cydia splendana

Delicate

Aproaerema anthyllidella

Centre-barred Sallow

Archips podana

A few new micro moths

Last Wednesday was an average moth night, with highs struggling to get to 21 degrees and lows dipping a bit further than what we've been used to recently.

Despite the cooler conditions, there were still over 40 species present at the trap.

 

Best was a garden first Coleophora lineolea, two of them as well! Not one i've ever seen before.

 

There were two other new for year micros, the oddly shaped Batrachedra praeangusta & the Bracken feeding Musotima nitidalis, a moth that has spread rapidly in the south-east. 

 

Less moths but hopefully some intetesting species still to come.

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 620 species

20/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Batrachedra praeangusta 1 [NFY] 
Coleophora lineolea 2 [NFG]
Musotima nitidalis 1 [NFY] 

 

Musotima nitidalis

Barred Hook-tip

Batrachedra praeangusta

Coleophora lineolea

 

Worth it for a new garden moth

Worth it for a new garden moth 

 

Temperatures cooled down somewhat at the start of last week, with temperatures back to average around the low to mid-20's.

Nights were still very humid and with lows of 15 degrees, good moth activity was still prevalent with the common species.

The new species for the garden was a macro moth, and one i've taken a few times before in Essex, and more recently in nearby Norfolk, a stunning looking moth and my specimen was extremely fresh too, it being exactly a month ago since my last new macro moth (Jersey Mocha).

 

There was just one more new species for the year, it was a Bactra species, most probably lancealana.

 

Returning species included another Acrobasis tumidana (the 4th this year), a stunning Eyed Hawk-moth, and a rare moth for me these days, a single Flame. 

 

More catches to write up soon! 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 617 species

19/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Dark Spinach 1 [NFG]

Micro Moths

Bactra sp 1 [NFY]

Flame

Acrobasis tumidana

Bactra sp

Dark Spinach

Eyed Hawk-moth

Quality moths!

Last Monday night I ran the trap once more, and a really breezy warm night yielded some welcome wandering species.

Quite often when it is warm, species will disperse from their strongholds in certain areas in the UK and move about with the humid air.

It certainly blurs the lines to what is actually defined as a genuine migrant moth, quite often even common species will migrate and bolster our populations, but species like Aroga velocella, Evergestis extimalis (both which featured in this catch and rare in the county) and of course the exploding Scrobipalpa ocellatella are really only our current population tracking north on southerly winds.

 

Obviously from August this gets trickier to define the parameters for a genuine migrant moth as we head into the peak migrantion period.

 

5 new species for the year was very good for the time of year, things started tailing off from now on but the common species are still doing really well. 

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 615 species

18/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Delicate 1 [NFY]
L-album Wainscot 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Aroga velocella 1 [NFY]
Evergestis extimalis 1 [NFY]
Lathronympha strigana 1 [NFY]

White-line Dart

Aroga velocella

Delicate

Dioryctria abietella

Evergestis extimalis

L-album wainscot

Lathronympha strigana

Small Ranunculus

 

Bournemouth 8th-15th August

We had a lovely holiday in Bournemouth for a week, and I took my little portable actinic trap with me.

 

The mothing was tough, as I battled cool and clear nights to start with, coupled with a big bright moon.

 

As the week went on though the weather at night was fantastic, but the moths never really got going, and numbers were disappointing, I was also plagued by wasps and hornets.

Species were good though, and it was great to catch some that I don't see around these parts.

 

Best for me were Horse Chestnut, Balsam Carpet, a year first Lesser Swallow Prominent (unbelievably), Agriphila latistria, Bordered Straw, a lovely pink-flushed Clay Triple-lines & Ptocheuusa paupella.

 

Some rarities also caught my eye, Cochylimorpha alternana was a new moth for me and quite scarce nationally. A Gynnidomorpha species could prove to be minimana (with it's angulate fascia band) although it is probably alismana. minimina would be new for Hampshire, so the specimen was retained.

 

All in all a great week away supplemented by some good moths. 

 

Macro Moths

Angle Shades 
Balsam Carpet 
Bordered Beauty 
Bordered Straw 
Brimstone Moth
Clay Triple-lines 
Cloaked Minor 
Clouded Border 
Common Rustic 
Common Wave 
Copper Underwing 
Dingy Footman 
Double-striped Pug 
Dusky Thorn 
Flame Shoulder 
Garden Carpet 
Gypsy Moth 
Heart & Dart 
Horse Chestnut
Jersey Tiger 
Large Yellow Underwing 
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 
Lesser Swallow Prominent
Light Emerald 
Lime-speck Pug 
Maiden's Blush 
Narrow-winged Pug
Oak Hook-tip 
Oak Eggar 
Pale Mottled Willow
Peacock Moth 
Poplar Hawk-moth 
Rosy Footman 
Rosy Rustic 
Sallow Kitten 
Setaceous Hebrew Character 
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Single-dotted Wave 
Small Dusty Wave 
Small Seraphim
Straw Dot 
Square-spot Rustic 
Tawny-barred Angle 
Tawny Speckled Pug 
Turnip Moth 
Vine's Rustic 
V-pug 
Willow Beauty 
Wormwood Pug
Yellow Shell 
Yellow-tail 

Micro Moths

Acentria emphemerella 
Acleris variegana 
Acrobasis advenella 
Agapeta hamana 
Agonopterix alstromeriana 
Agonopterix arenella 
Agonopterix ocellana
Agriphila inquinatella 
Agriphila latistria
Agriphila selasella
Agriphila straminella 
Agriphila tristella 
Aristotelia ericinella
Bactra sp
Blastobasis adustella 
Bryotropha affinis 
Bryotropha domestica
Bryotropha terrella 
Bucculatrix cristatella 
Bucculatrix ulmella 
Calamotropha paludella
Carcina quercana 
Cataclysta lemnata 
Catoptria falsella 
Celypha lacunana 
Celypha striana 
Clepsis spectrana 
Cochylichroa atricapitana
Cochylimorpha alternana
Coleophora alcyonipennella frischella 
Coleophora sp x2
Cydia pomonella 
Cydia splendana 
Cydia ulicetana
Depressaria radiella
Emmelina monodactyla 
Epiphyas postvittana 
Epinotia nisella 
Ephestia sp 
Ethmia quadrilella 
Euzophera pinguis 
Gynnidomorpha sp
Hofmannophila pseudospretella 
Homoeosoma sinuella 
Metalampra italica 
Mirificarma mulinella
Neocochylis molliculana 
Nomophila noctuella 
Nymphula nitidulata 
Ostrinia nubilalis 
Pammene aurita
Pandemis heparana 
Parapoynx stratiotata
Pediasia contaminella
Phycita roborella 
Pleuroptya ruralis 
Plutella xylostella 
Ptocheuusa paupella
Scoparia ambigualis 
Scythropia crataegella 
Tachystola acroxantha 
Tinea trinotella 
Udea ferrugalis 
Yponomeuta rorrella 
Yponomeuta cag mal pad 
Ypsolopha sequella

Nymphula nitidulata

Agonopterix ocellana

Agriphila latistria

Balsam Carpet

Bordered Straw

Clay Triple-lines

Cochylimorpha alternana

Coleophora sp

Depressaria radiella

Ethmia quadrillella

Gynnidomorpha sp

Horse Chestnut

Mirificarma mulinella

 

Quiet times, but still ticking along

The trap is a little mundane currently, don't get me wrong it's nice to see 50+ examples of common species, but it makes it hard to pick out the decent stuff! 

On Sunday night it was fairly mild with light winds, so the trap was busy come Monday morming at 5am.

To the notable moths. 

Acrolepiopsis assectella was only my 2nd this year, and a late White Ermine was nice.

3 new species were noted, both the macros I missed out on last year. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 610 species

17/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Tawny-barred Angle 1 [NFY]

Webb's Wainscot 1 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Ypsolopha sequella 1 [NFY]

Acrolepiopsis assectella

Tawny-barred Angle

Webb's Wainscot

White Ermine

Ypsolopha sequella

 

A new garden Plume!

The trap is full currently, full of lots of browns and greys, Vine's Rustics, Turnip Moths, Nutmegs and Common Wainscots all going bananas.

On Saturday night it was a little cooler but it was cloudy so no moon to contend with (although that is now waning now).

I was extremely pleased to pot up a Hellinsia plume species on the fence, my second of this genus after taking Mugwort Plume (Hellinsia lienigianus) 3 years on a trot. This newest addition being the Citron Plume (Hellinsia carphodactyla) and the 909th species for the garden.

The only other new species was both sexes of the Orange Swift.

Turbulent weather currently, but still fairly warm at night for now. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 607 species

16/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths 

Orange Swift 3 [NFY]

Micro Moths

Hellinsia carphodactyla 1 [NFG]

 

Treble-bar

Anania coronata

Hellinsia carphodactyla

Orange Swift - Female

Orange Swift - Male

Tawny-speckled Pug

 

Back to the garden, back to back

Back from our lovely break away to Bournemouth in a private house with large grounds, pool and free fishing rights, totally spoilt!

Unfortunately the mothing was rather poor (windy cool and clear nights with a disastrous moon phase) Still there were some goodies found, more on that soon.

 

I ran my trap back to back on Thursday and Friday night, Thursday we returned from the south an hour into darkness, and as soon as I switched on, there were moths around my feet!

It was a very busy night, with 73 species, I then added a further 35 different species the night after on the 15th.  

Less new species for the yearly list now, but some absolute crackers turning up. 

Large Thorn was good to see, only my 3rd for the garden and my earliest record by 15 days!

A 4th Ancylosis oblitella of the year was noteworthy, what a year it's been for them! A seemingly rare moth turned common overnight.  

2 more Homoeosoma nebulella were most welcome, a species that does well here annually for reasons unknown.

A Copper Underwing was checked underneath and confimed my suspicions that it was indeed a year first Svennson's Copper Underwing, a nice dark marked specimen.

And two new Pugs for the year, Cypress and Tawny-speckled, the latter a bit worn (But since eclipsed by a fresh specimen last night).

Lots of migrants floating around still, but very little here so far. 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 605 species

14-15/08/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths 

Cypress Pug 1 [NFY]
Large Thorn 1 [NFY]
Svennson's Copper Underwing 1 [NFY]
Tawny-speckled Pug 1 [NFY]
Bright-line Brown-eye 
Brimstone Moth
Buff-tip 
Cabbage Moth 
Chinese Character 
Cloaked Minor 
Common Carpet 
Common Rustic 
Common Wainscot 58
Copper Underwing 
Dingy Footman 
Double-striped Pug 
Dusky Thorn 
Flame Shoulder 
Flounced Rustic 
Goat Moth 
Grey Dagger 
Gypsy Moth 
Heart & Dart 
Iron Prominent 
Jersey Tiger 
Large Yellow Underwing 
Latticed Heath 
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 
Light Emerald 
Lime-speck Pug 
Lychnis 
Marbled Beauty 
Marbled Clover 
Nutmeg 41
Pale Mottled Willow 
Pale Prominent
Riband Wave 
Ruby Tiger 
Setaceous Hebrew Character 
Shuttle-shaped Dart 19
Single-dotted Wave 
Small Dusty Wave 
Spectacle 
Straw Dot 
Straw Underwing 
Swallow Prominent 
Tawny Wave
Toadflax Brocade 
Tree-lichen Beauty 
Treble-bar 
Turnip Moth 
Vine's Rustic 
White-spotted Pug 
White-point 
White-line Dart 
Willow Beauty 
Wormwood Pug
Yellow Shell

Micro Moths

Acentria emphemerella 
Agapeta hamana
Agriphila geniculea 
Agriphila straminella 
Agriphila tristella 
Ancylosis oblitella 
Blastobasis adustella 
Bryotropha basaltinella 
Bryotropha domestica 
Cameraria ohridella 
Carcina quercana 
Chrysoteuchia culmella 
Cochylichroa atricapitana 
Cochylis rosaceana 
Coleophora alcyonipennella frischella 
Cydia fagiglandana 
Cydia pomonella 
Cydalima perspectalis 
Dichrorampha petiverella
Dichrorampha simpliciana 
Dichrorampha vancouverana 
Ephestia sp 
Endotricha flammealis 
Epiphyas postvittana 
Ethmia quadrilella 
Eudonia mercurella 
Eudonia pallida 
Euzophera pinguis 
Evergestis limbata 
Galleria mellonella
Gelechia senticetella 
Hofmannophila pseudospretella 
Homoeosoma nebulella 
Homoeosoma sinuella 
Monopis crocicapitella 
Monopis weaverella 
Neocochylis dubitana 
Neocochylis hybridella 
Neocochylis molliculana 
Ostrinia nubilalis 
Parapoynx stratiotata 
Patania ruralis 
Platyedra subcinerea 
Pyrausta aurata 
Pyrausta despicata 
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 
Scythris limbella 
Swammerdamia pyrella 
Udea ferrugalis 
Yponomeuta cag/mal/pad

White-line Dart

Ancylosis oblitella

Cypress Pug

Homoeosoma nebulella

Large Thorn

Parapoynx stratiotata

Svennson's Copper Underwing

Tawny-speckled Pug