Field Trip - 09/06/16 - Roughdown Common - Hemel Hempstead

The Herts Moth Group assembled at Roughdown Common for their third official outing of the year.

Roughdown Common is an exceedingly important site for wildlife on the doorstep of the hustle and bustle of sub-urban Hemel Hempstead.

Predominantly chalk grassland with an intersecting wooded section and split right down the middle by the A41, Roughdown Common is an outstanding site for a variety of moth species.

We arrived at 7.30pm, early enough to have a walk around with a net and pots and we quickly added 17 species to kick-start our list, amongst the swarms of Diamond-back moths for which we netted 2/3rds of the time there was plenty of other species to keep us interested.

Species such as Eupoecilia angustana, Micropterix aruncella and Cauchas fibulella were absolutely stunning to observe.

By 8.30pm the rest of the team had arrived...we would need the extra hands to set up the 11 traps! 

We decided to cover all areas of the reserve with traps out in the open field, some along the border of the A41 and then running through the wood and over-looking the Dell.

Conditions were pretty much perfect, no wind, warm at 22 degrees and with a smattering of thin cloud which would hopefully be just enough to lock the warmth in and it was, with a comfortable 13 degrees when I left at 2am.

The variety of moths was pretty astounding and despite quite possibly the slowest Spring on record things are beginning to pick up.

Highlights from the traps were Small Angle Shades, Dark Sword-grass, Puss Moth, Figure of Eighty and Alabonia geoffrella, the latter typically being a day-flying moth but both of my records have been to light! 

I think we were a little bit early for the typical chalkland species such as Pretty Chalk Carpet and Royal Mantle, the vegetation being about 2 weeks behind the norm would suggest so.

Final list is 142 species

Numbers below are approximate as it really was hard trying to count them all!

Catch Report - 09/06/16 - Roughdown Common - 5x 125w MV Robinson Trap 1x 125w MV + Sheet 1x 26w BLB Robinson Trap 1x 80w Actinic Suitcase Trap 1x 40w Actinic and 2 Actinic Bucket Traps

Macro Moths -  90 Species

2x Angle Shades

1x Beautiful Golden-Y

3x Brimstone Moth

4x Broken-barred Carpet

5x Brown Rustic

1x Buff Ermine

2x Buff-tip

1x Cinnabar

2x Clouded Border

1x Clouded-bordered Brindle

1x Clouded Brindle

1x Common Carpet

10x Common Marbled Carpet

5x Common Pug

30x Clouded Silver

15+ Common Swift

2x Common Wainscot

2x Common White Wave

1x Coronet

1x Dark Arches

1x Dark Sword-grass

2x Double Square-spot

1x Dwarf Cream Wave

1x Elephant Hawk-moth

1x Figure of Eighty

2x Flame

1x Flame Carpet

4x Flame Shoulder

2x Foxglove Pug

1x Garden Carpet

10+ Green Carpet

2x Green Pug

5x Grey Pug

1x Haworth's Pug

10x Heart & Dart

3x Ingrailed Clay

5x Large Nutmeg

1x Large Yellow Underwing

1x Least Black Arches

5x Light Brocade

2x Light Emerald

1x Lime Hawk-moth

1x Maiden's Blush

10x Marbled Minor

1x Marbled White-spot

1x Middle-barred Minor

1x Miller

3x Mottled Pug

2x Mottled Rustic

5x Orange Footman

1x Pale Oak Beauty

1x Pale Prominent

3x Pale Tussock

1x Peach Blossom

1x Pebble Prominent

2x Peppered Moth

1x Poplar Hawk-moth

1x Privet Hawk-moth

2x Purple Bar

1x Puss Moth

10x Rustic Shoulder-knot

1x Scorched Carpet

2x Scorched Wing

6x Setaceous Hebrew Character

3x Shears

1x Shoulder-striped Wainscot

2x Shuttle-shaped Dart

4x Silver-Y

2x Silver-ground Carpet

1x Small Angle Shades

1x Small Clouded Brindle

1x Small Dusty Wave

2x Small  Elephant Hawk-moth

1x Small Rivulet

2x Small Square-spot

1x Snout

1x Spectacle

2x Straw Dot

1x Swallow Prominent

1x Treble Brown Spot

2x Tawny Marbled Minor

1x Toadflax Brocade

10+ Treble Lines

1x Vine's Rustic

3x White Ermine

1x White-pinion Spotted

1x White-spotted Pug

2x Willow Beauty

2x Yellow Shell

1x Yellow-barred Brindle 

Micro Moths - 52 Species

1x Tinea trinotella

2x Endothenia gentianaeana

2x Dichrorampha alpinana - Gen Det

2x Dichrorampha aeratana - Gen Det

3x Eupoecilia angustana

3x Micropterix aruncella

4x Nemophora degeerella

1x Eudonia angustea

2x Cnephasia communana - Gen Det

10+ Hedya pruniana

Lots+ Plutella xylostella

8x Celypha lacunana

10+ Crambus lathoniellus

1x Chrysoteuchia culmella

1x Cauchas fibulella

1x Bryotropha terrella

5x Cochylimorpha straminea

1x Eucosma cana

2x Agonopterix arenella

1x Aphelia paleana

3x Agapeta hamana

2x Agapeta zoegana

1x Cydia pomonella

1x Notocelia uddmanniana

2x Notocelia trimaculana

1x Notocelia cynosbatella

3x Metzneria metzneriella

10+ Scoparia ambigualis

4x Scoparia pyralella

2x Epiphyas postvittana

1x Epiblema costipunctana

4x Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

1x Coptotriche marginea

1x Pseudatemelia flavifrontella - Gen Det

2x Eulamprotes unicolorella - Gen Det

1x Eudonia pallida

1x Eudonia lacustrata

1x Alabonia geoffrella

1x Cryptoblabes bistriga

2x Aphomia sociella

1x Udea olivalis

1x Endrosis sarcitrella

8x Teleiodes luculella

4x Pandemis cerasana

2x Epinotia bilunana

1x Archips podana

1x Parornix sp

1x Eudonia mercurella

2x Mompha raschkiella

1x Triaxomera parasitella

1x Nematopogon swammerdamella

2x Caloptilia syringella

Alabonia geoffrella

Dichrorampha alpinana - Gen Det

Epiblema costipunctana

Eupoecilia angustana

Micropterix aruncella

Notocelia trimaculana

Small Angle Shades