Field Trip - Ashwell Quarry - 30/05/20

I turned up at Ashwell Quarry last Saturday evening at around 8pm after collecting the key from Chris James the warden, Chris had mentioned that their hadn't been much cutting there this year due to various reasons.
When I turned up, as expected it was a little overgrown, but I managed to get the car in safely without finding any rabbit or badger holes!

Despite it being rather overgrown, their were still plenty of good patches of wildflowers typically associated with the chalky soil that dominates this environ.

Ashwell Quarry really is a little insect oasis in the middle of an arable desert with miles upon miles of fields with no significant woods within a 5 mile radius.
Most of the species of moth that are trapped here are from the supporting habitat itself (with the exception of migrants, for which it does very well for later on in the year, due to it's elevated position).

The day had been warm at around 23 degrees and whilst setting up it was still 20 degrees, this would fall away sharply at around 11pm to 10 degrees, and once packed up at 1am, it was just 8 degrees, nothing to hold the heat in here! Drving home and turning into my road, the car guage read 13 degrees, what a difference a built up area makes! 

The moths were quick to respond to all three lights (I would have run more, but one of my generators has a fuel leak, so needs some tlc).

Best moths included a vast array of Pug species, 8 in total with the best being Sloe, Satyr and Netted.

There were also 12 Small Elephant Hawks and 7 Elephant Hawks.

Three Ferns were dissected to confirm they were actually Ferns (Thanks Graeme) and not the newly discoverec Cryptic Fern.

Pick of the micros were several Luquetia lobella, an odd looking thing, and a single Myelois circumvoluta, a rare moth for me.


Below is the list that I managed on the trip.

Catch Report - 30/05/20 - Ashwell Quarry - North Herts - 3 traps - 1x 125w MV Trap, 1x 250w Clear MV Robinson Trap, 1x 40w U-Tube + 15w Actinic tube & 15w Synergetic tube Trap

54 Macro species & 36 Micro species - 90 species in total

Macro Moths

Angle Shades
Brimstone Moth
Brown Rustic
Burnished Brass
Cinnabar
Clouded Silver
Common Carpet
Common Marbled Carpet
Common Pug
Common Swift 
Elephant Hawk-moth

Fern - 3 Gen Det GJS 

Figure of Eighty
Flame 
Garden Carpet
Green Carpet
Green Pug 
Heart & Dart
Large Nutmeg
Light Brocade
Light Emerald
Lime-speck Pug
Marbled Minor
Mottled Beauty 
Mottled Pug
Mottled Rustic
Netted Pug
Orange Footman
Pale Mottled Willow
Pale Oak Beauty
Pale Prominent
Pale Tussock
Poplar Grey
Purple Bar
Satyr Pug 
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Shaded Pug
Shears
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Silver-ground Carpet
Sloe Pug 
Small Dusty Wave
Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Small Square-spot 
Small Waved Umber
Snout
Spectacle
Straw Dot 
Treble bar 
Treble Lines
Turnip Moth
Vines Rustic
White Ermine
Willow Beauty
Yellow-barred Brindle

Micro Moths

Agapeta hamana
Agonopterix alstromeriana
Anania hortulata
Argyresthia spinosella
Celypha lacunana
Cnephasia sp
Cochylimorpha straminea
Cochylis molliculana
Crambus lathoniellus
Elachista argentella
Ephestia woodiella - Gen Det GJS
Eucosma cana
Hedya pruniana
Luquetia lobella
Micropterix aruncella
Micropterix calthella
Monopis laevigella
Monopis weaverella
Myelois circumvoluta
Nemapogon cloacella 
Notocelia cynosbatella
Notocelia trimaculana
Notocelia uddmanniana
Pandemis heparana 
Paraswammerdamia nebulella
Parornix sp
Phtheochroa rugosana
Plutella xylostella
Pterophorus pentadactyla
Ptycholoma lecheana
Scoparia pyralella
Sitochroa verticalis
Stigmella sp
Tinea semifulvella
Tortrix viridana
Udea olivalis

125w MV Robinson Trap

Actinic Trap

Burnished Brass

Elephants on the sheet!

Ephestia woodiella - Gen Det

Fern - Gen Det

Luquetia lobella

Myelois circumvoluta

Netted Pug

Satyr Pug

Sitochroa verticalis