France Day 4 - 25/08/26

A really warm day followed the slightly cooler night of Monday, with highs of 31 degrees and a real humid feel to the day.

Early morning we made tracks up into a local nature reserve. There were very few moths due to the wind, but plenty of Grayling species and Browns struggling to make level flight in the gusts. 

 

By nightfall the wind had abated and the lights were busy with moths.

 

The species were absolutely incredible, and one of the most diverse species list so far during the holiday was witnessed.

 

The moths, well where do I start.

 

There were several extremely scarce moths potted up.

 

Agriphila brioniellus/paleatella was the first region for the Herault region in 11 years, last seen West of Montpellier on the 9th of September 2015.

The name is confusing and there seems to be a debate about the synonym that is currently being listed as an absolute synonym. Waaay above my pay grade I'm afraid! 

 

Hoyosia codeti, an unusual looking species much like the Festoon & Triangle moths that we get back home, to get two and both a male & female was rather spectacular.

To date, it is only found in 3 regions of France, and with just 49 records for the whole of France, it certainly was exciting to record them at our villa.

 

A rather distinct pyralid proved some initial major headaches, and sourcing help from others, we finally settled on Pseudacrobasis tergestella, another quite scarce species, an unusual moth with it's black raised scale tufts, much like Acrobasis tumidana, but in grey scale format!

 

Trichophaga bipartitella was one of my favourites of the night, initially thinking it was my first Tapestry Moth (Trichophaga tapetzella), then not realising that there was a second possible species, which it has turned out to be, so it seems like I still need to see a Tapestry Moth after all!

 

Uncinus obductellus was a moth I only recently ticked off down the road at Wicken Fen, a site first and a pyralid that seems to be spreading quite rapidly. In fact one was reported to me only yesterday from my village, Leslie popped round with said moth and it is indeed a lovely specimen of Uncinus obductellus.

In France it has a hugely scattered distribution. For the Herault department, it is only the 2nd record ever, and was last seen in 2022. 

 

All that lot and there were so many other cool moths, too many to write up individually about so I will let the list and photos do the rest of the talking. 

 

 

24/08/26 - Felines Minervois - Herault Department - 40w Actinic & 30w UV LED lamp

 

Macro Moths

Apaidia mesogona

Barrett's Marbled Coronet - Conisania andalusica

Hoyosia codeti 

Idaea eugeniata

Itame vincularia

Metachrostis velox 

Small Black Arches - Meganola strigula 

Zebeeba falsalis 

Micro Moths

Acrolepiopsis vesperella

Agdistis sp

Agriphila brioniellus/paleatella

Apodia bifractella 

Blastobasis glandulella

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Clepsis consimilana

Euzophera pinguis

Homoeosoma sinuella

Notocelia incarnatana

Pempelia palumbella

Pseudacrobasis tergestella

Pseudococcyx tessulatana 

Trichophaga bipartitella

Uncinus obductella 

 

Zebeeba falsalis

Acrolepiopsis vesperella

Agriphila brioniellus/paleatella

Hoyosia codeti

Itame vincularia

Notocelia incarnatana

Pseudacrobasis tergestella

Pseudococcyx tessulatana

Trichophaga bipartitella

Uncinus obductella

 

A couple of back to back migrants

A quick post on back to back catches made on the 3rd and 4th of September.

Less moths recently as temperatures dip to around 12 degrees, not tragic but cool for this time of year in the east.

It was certainly very nice to score a Vestal on Thursday night and a shimmering white Palpita vitrealis on Friday night.

Flounced Rustic and Straw Underwing are still battling for top spot, but there are a few new contenders who's numbers are increasing, Square-spot Rustic and Vine's Rustic are getting more regular, as are Large Yellow Underwing, which is a much less common species in my garden these days.

The weather turned quite hot today for one day only, could be a good night!

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 680 species 

 

03/09/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths

Vestal 1 [NFY]

04/09/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Micro Moths

Palpita vitrealis 1 [NFY]

Vestal

Palpita vitrealis

Super start to September

On the 2nd I ran my first trap for the month of September. 

I stayed up fairly late, and rose early enough to limit escapees. 74 species was the grand total. That must be a record for September here in my garden, I'm sure of it.

There were two new macro moths for the year making it the best year on record, species-wise at least, with 678 species logged so far in 2026.

The two new ones were Cypress Pug & Orange Sallow, the latter I missed out on last year.

Clancy's Rustic was back, with 3 coming to the trap overnight, not seen since mid-June. 

A second garden record of Crocidosema plebejana was most welcome, both from this year. 

Drinker was rather late, I don't see many in September.

Cooler nights were coming up, a real feeling of Autumn in the mornings. 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 678 species 

 

02/09/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths

Cypress Pug 2 [NFY] 
Orange Sallow 1 [NFY]
Angle Shades 
Blue Underwing 
Cabbage Moth 
Centre-barred Sallow 
Clancy's Rustic 
Delicate 
Double-striped Pug 
Drinker 
Dusky Thorn 
Flounced Rustic 
Frosted Orange
Garden Carpet 
Large Yellow Underwing 
Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
L-album Wainscot 
Lime-speck Pug 
Mouse Moth 
Nutmeg
Pale Mottled Willow 
Pebble Hook-tip 
Setaceous Hebrew Character 
Shuttle-shaped Dart 
Silver Y 
Spectacle
Small Blood-vein 
Small Dusty Wave
Small Ranunculus 
Snout 
Straw Underwing 
Square-spot Rustic 
Tawny-speckled Pug 
Toadflax Pug 
Treble-bar 
Turnip Moth 
Vine's Rustic 
Yellow Shell 
White-point 
Willow Beauty 

Micro Moths

Achroia grisella 
Agriphila geniculea 
Agriphila tristella 
Amblyptilia acanthadactyla 
Ancylosis oblitella 
Aproaerema anthyllidella 
Archips podana 
Cameraria ohridella 
Celypha lacunana 
Celypha striana 
Clavigesta purdeyi 
Crocidosema plebejana 
Cydalima perspectalis 
Cydia splendana 
Emmelina monodactyla 
Epiphyas postvittana 
Galleria mellonella 
Grapholita funebrana 
Hofmannophila pseudospretella 
Hypsopyqgia costalis 
Monopis crocicapitella 
Monopis weaverella 
Neocochylis atricapitana 
Neocochylis molliculana 
Nomophila noctuella 
Pandemis corylana 
Parapoynx stratiotata 
Paraswammerdamia nebulella 
Plutella xylostella 
Pyrausta aurata 
Scrobipalpa ocellatella 
Udea ferrugalis 
Yponomeuta evonynella

Orange Sallow

Achroia grisella

Aproaerema anthyllidella

Clancy's Rustic

Crocidosema plebejana

Cypress Pug

Drinker

 

France Day 3 - 24/08/26

Another fantastic night, although less moths and species as a result of a huge storm we experienced early evening, and we just had to be out in the hire car getting supplies in from a nearby supermarche!

Luckily we were only 6 miles away, 6 miles too far... driving in over 60mph gusts and torrential rain, debris was raining down on the car.

By late evening it looked like we hadn't any raining at all! But clear skies and a howling wind still, knocked the numbers down a bit.

But who could complain about the first Tiger Moth species of the night (And was to be the only Tiger Moth species of the trip) two stunning Cymbalophora pudica. Over the next few nights they kept returning in low numbers.

There were some lovely micros, some quite scarce such as the Tineidae Myrmecozela ataxella. An incredibly bright Etiella zinckenella was very photogenic.

Stemmatophora rungsi was the best moth, last seen in the Herault department in 2023.

Another warm day was expected on Tuesday and hopefully some lovely new moths overnight.

 

24/08/26 - Felines Minervois - Herault Department - 40w Actinic & 30w UV LED lamp

 

Macro Moths

Cryphia pallida

Cymbalophora pudica

Oak Eggar - Lasiocampa quercus

Pine Hawk-moth - Sphinx pinastri

Scopula marginepunctata

Micro Moths

Achyra nudalis 

Ancylosis cinnamomella

Duponchelia fovealis

Etiella zinckenella

Myrmecozela ataxella

Pediasia contaminella 

Stemmatophora rungsi

Tinea basifasciella 

 

Stemmatophora rungsi

Achyra nudalis

Ancylosis cinnamomella

Cryphia pallida

Cymbalophora pudica

Duponchelia fovealis

Etiella zinckenella

Myrmecozela ataxella

Scopula marginepunctata

 

 

 

France Day 2 - 23/08/26

Another really productive night out on the side patio of our villa.

Running twin 40w Actinic vane setups hanging from bungees, the moths came pouring in, not huge numbers, but the variety was staggering and there were so many different species from the previous night.

 

There were several regionally scarce species as well, and some real headaches for identification, so much so, that I had to lump several species together for fear of being incorrect!

 

The night was once again another warm one, with lows of 21 degrees at 5am. Being late August, it didn't really get light until half 6, so there was plenty of time to pot up the moths from the walls and surrounding floor tiles.

The local Lizards and Geckos, after just one night had already cottoned on to my activities! I guess several moths succumbed to their appetite. 

This was also the first night that I noticed bats racing up and down the pool and across the lights.

 

It's always interesting to see regional forms of our common moths, there were several Clays attracted to the lamps, a few looked rather unusual indeed.

 

One of my favourites was a lovely dainty plume species, Alucita palodactyla, and a rather unusual looking Waved Black proved to be the southern speciality Parascotia nisseni. 

 

Rarest moth was probably the Agonopterix nodiflorella, keyed out on the palps and forewing markings. But I can't be 100% unfortunately.  

 

23/08/26 - Felines Minervois - Herault Department - 40w Actinic & 30w UV LED lamp

 

Macro Moths

Clay - Mythimna ferrago

Dorset Cream Wave - Stegania trimaculata

Eublemma pura

Hoary Footman - Eilema caniola

Horse Chestnut Moth - Pachycnemia hippocastanaria

Idaea cf contiguaria

Middle Lace Border - Scopula decorata

Pale-shouldered Cloud - Chloantha hyperici

Parascotia nisseni 

Scopula submutata

Small Waved Umber - Horisme vitalbata 

White-speck - Mythimna unipuncta

 

Micro Moths

Acrobasis fallouella 

Acrobasis legatea

Agonopterix cf nodiflorella

Alucita palodactyla 

Antigastra catalaunalis

Apatema mediopallidum 

Aristotelia decoratella

Aproaerema cf patruella 

Blastobasis glandulella 

Dolicharthria punctalis

Dysspastus cf fallax

Elachista dispunctella

Emmelina monodactyla

Epinotia thapsiana 

Epischnia cf asteris illotella

Hypsopygia incarnatalis

Laodamia combustella

Lecithocera nigrana 

Nepticulidae sp

Pyroderces argyrogrammos 

Symmocoides oxybiella

Pale-shouldered Cloud - Chloantha hyperici

Parascotia nisseni

Scopula submutata

Acrobasis fallouella

Acrobasis legatea

Agonopterix cf nodiflorella

Alucita palodactyla

Apatema mediopallidum

Aristotelia decoratella

Dolicharthria punctalis

Epinotia thapsiana

Horse Chestnut Moth - Pachycnemia hippocastanaria

Hypsopygia incarnatalis

Laodamia combustella

First night in France - 22/08/26

We had a lovely family holiday to the Herault Department of France which resides in the Occitanie region of Southern France.

We took a short flight to Carcassonne and headed North-east to our base in rural Felines Minervois, a stunning property sat on the edge of a valley that was bordered by lovely montane hills, on the furthest western edge of what would eventually turn into the Alps.

 

I had several setups with me, including two 40w Actinic vane sets, a mobile trap and a couple of led lamps that could be run off of powerbanks for several hours.

 

On the first night it was very warm and with slight humidity, the patio area where I was running two lamps was quite busy.

 

Below were some of the best species I saw on the first night on the 22nd of August.

There were several nights where I recorded some species that we are more familiar here in the UK, they were added onto the final list at the end.

 

Some identifications might be subjective and open for challenging. No specimens were retained as I was unable to bring anything home with me.

Where I am not sure of the species, I have used the Latin word confer, which means to compare or compare with.

It is placed between a genus and a species name (for example, Homoeosoma cf calcella) to signal that an insect specimen closely resembles a known species, but its exact identity has not yet been fully confirmed or verified.

 

About 90% of the moth species recorded were new to my records. 

 

Several stunning Tortrix moths were seen including the pink-flushed Propiromorpha rhodophana & one beautiful moth from the Cnephasia group, Xerocnephasia rigana.

 

Best moth of the night was the 2nd record for the Herault Department of France of the rather smart micro moth, Eteobalea dohrnii. A nationally scarce species, being only the 15th record for the whole of France!  

 

 

22/08/26 - Felines Minervois - Herault Department - 40w Actinic & 30w UV LED lamp

 

Macro Moths

Bryophila raptricula

Caradrina aspersa 

Devonshire Wainscot - Leucania putrescens

Dusky Carpet - Tephronia sepiaria 

Ecleora solieraria

Four-spotted - Tyta luctuosa 

Idaea filicata

Idaea infirmaria

Lorimer's Rustic - Caradrina flavirena

Marbled Green - Bryopsis muralis 

Odice jucunda

Portland Ribbon Wave - Idaea degeneraria 

Purple Marbled Eublemma ostrina 

Small Dusty Wave - Idaea seriata ssp canteneraria

Sorcerer - Aedia leucomelas

Spiny Hook-tip - Watsonalla uncinula

Synaphe punctalis (Another common moth, 10+)

The Passenger - Dysgonia algira 

 

Micro Moths

Aethes bilbaensis 

Ancylolomia tentaculella

Aporodes floralis 

Aproaerema cf patruella 

Bostra obsoletalis 

Cadra figulilella (Very common numbering 30+)

Denticera divisella  

Eteobalea dohrnii (2nd record for Herault Department) 

Euchromius cambridgei 

Homoeosoma cf calcella

Homoeosoma nimbella

Nemapogon nevadella

Neocochylis millierana 

Phalonidia contractana 

Propiromorpha rhodophana

Pyrausta sanguinalis

Scythris cf terrenella

Udea numeralis

Xerocnephasia rigana 

 

Ancylolomia tentaculella

Cadra figulilella

Caradrina aspersa

Denticera divisella

Devonshire Wainscot - Leucania putrescens

Ecleora solieraria

Eteobalea dohrnii

Nemapogon nevadella

Propiromorpha rhodophana

Spiny Hook-tip - Watsonalla uncinula

Xerocnephasia rigana

 

40w Actinic Travel Trap

Patio setup - 40w Actinic & 30w led