Hemel Hempstead Field Trip - 11/06/13

David Kirk, Roger Prue and myself made a trip to two of the Boxmoor sites in Hemel Hempstead. The evening looked absolutely perfect for moths with cloud cover expected throughout the night and a minimum of 13 degrees, though when I arrived at the first site at Gadesprings the cloud had promptly vanished. We set two traps up at Gadesprings and left them to their own devices, then we made our way to Bovingdon Brickworks where we would setup 2 more traps running from a generator. As we started to setup, more cloud had developed and the wind had dropped so we were confident of getting a few moths.
The moths were as always few and far between at the light first, but then as the night went on, at about 10.30pm we were seeing much more variety in singles, with just a few moths having an influx, notably Green Carpet, Silver-ground Carpet and the micro Monopis weaverella.
We packed up at about 1.30am at Bovingdon, and it took awhile to count everything....species were still flying in and god only knows how many we would have recorded had we stayed until first light.
Of the two sites, Bovingdon did the best, but what we didn't expect was to find a further 24 species at Gadesprings that did not feature in the Bovingdon catch.
Strangely and in keeping with this odd year, one of the commonest moths was Nut-tree Tussock, in which we recorded 4 to the 80w Actinic and 1 to the 125w MV. This is a very late record, considering a few of them were fresh.
We did not get Poplar Hawk-moth, which was pretty much expected from Gadesprings.
Notables of the night were moths new to myself, Mompha raschkiella, Strophedra weirana and Elachista atricomella, May Highflyer was also a seldom seen moth.

All in all we had an incredibly enjoyable night and would like more of these please Mr weather!

Of all the moths identified, there is only one we are struggling with, which will have to be omitted as it is too worn and dead apparently!

The jet black Prays fraxinella/ruficeps will have to be checked by Colin Plant, I did confidently predict one of these, judging by the amount of Ash in the vicinity.

 
84 species total

60 species at Bovindon

52 species at Gadesprings

an extra 25 species at Gadesprings

[] = Only at Gadesprings


11/06/13
Bovingdon Brickworks - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Trap run from 9.45pm until 1.30am


Macro Moths

1x Red Twin-spot Carpet
1x Spruce Carpet
1x Brown Rustic
1x Rustic Shoulder-knot
1x White Ermine
2x Common Wave
1x Nutmeg
1x Peach Blossom
3x Heart & Dart
1x V-pug
2x Peppered Moth
1x Brown Silver-line
2x Purple Bar
1x Mottled Rustic
5x Scalloped Hazel
1x Elephant Hawk-moth
1x Clouded-bordered Brindle
5x Orange Footman
5x Small Phoenix
2x White Pinion-spotted
4x Treble Lines
2x Pale Tussock
3x Clouded Silver
2x Grey Pine Carpet
5x Nut-tree Tussock
4x Flame Shoulder
6x Grey Pug
4x Mottled Pug
1x Oak Hook-tip
1x Straw Dot
2x Common Marbled Carpet
1x Least Black Arches
1x Pale Prominent
3x Common White Wave
1x Angle Shades
5x Brimstone Moth
10x Silver-ground Carpet
15x Green Carpet
3x Common Swift
2x Common Carpet
 
Micro Moths

1x Parornix sp
1x Strophedra weirana [NEW!]
1x Prays fraxinella/ruficeps
1x Caloptilia sp
3x Mompha raschkiella [NEW!]
1x Epiblema cynosbatella
2x Cochylis atricapitana
2x Syndemis musculana
2x Celypha lacunana
2x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
1x Nematopogon swammerdamella
2x Agonopterix arenella
1x Argyresthia trifasciata
3x Metzneria metzneriella
1x Scoparia ambigualis
2x Crambus lathoniellus
8x Monopis weaverella
1x Agapeta hamana
1x Nemapogon cloacella
1x Cochylimorpha straminea



11/06/13
Gadesprings, Hemel Hempstead - 1x 125w MV Robinson Trap & 1x 160w MBT Trap run from 9.30pm until 2.00am


Macro Moths

2x Silver-ground Carpet
1x Common Carpet
1x Common Wainscot []
1x Angle Shades
2x Heart & Dart
1x May Highflyer []
1x Silver Y []
3x Buff-tip []
1x Campion []
1x Nutmeg
2x Brimstone Moth
5x Green Carpet
2x White Ermine
2x Common Rustic []
1x Peppered Moth
2x Cinnabar []
3x Iron Prominent []
1x Bright-line Brown-eye []
2x Flame Shoulder
2x Rustic Shoulder-knot
1x Small Square-spot []
1x Common Wave
3x Treble Lines
1x Clouded-bordered Brindle
1x Pale Prominent
1x Shuttle-shaped Dart []
1x Swallow Prominent []
1x Broken-barred Carpet []
2x Common Pug
1x Yellow-barred Brindle []
2x Scalloped Hazel
1x Pale Tussock
1x Clouded Silver
2x Grey Pug
1x Vine's Rustic []
2x Spectacle []
2x Common Swift
2x Marbled Minor
1x Garden Carpet []
1x Common White Wave
3x Brimstone Moth
1x Oak-tree Pug []
1x Small Clouded Brindle []


Micro Moths

1x Mompha epilobiella []
1x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
1x Bactra lancealana []
1x Nematopogon swammerdamella
1x Celypha lacunana
2x Elachista maculicerusella []
1x Elachista argentella []
1x Elachista atricomella []
1x Bactra lancealana []

Bactra lancealana

Campion

Common Wave

 

Clouded-bordered Brindle

Elachista atricomella

Mompha raschkiella

Metzneria metzneriella

Nemapogon cloacella

Prays fraxinella/ruficeps

Strophedra weirana