Hexton Chalk Pit - Field Trip - 05/06/21

Last Saturday night I took a last minute trip to Hexton Chalk Pit for a spot of dusking, sweeping my net around to see what I could find and then proceeding to set-up one Actinic trap.

I only stayed for a few hours, as the night got a bit chilly on the exposed chalk grassland, the day was warm enough to spur plenty of species to take to the wing though.

Best moth of the evening was a rather worn Pammene trauniana, formerely a rare moth here in Herts (I was lucky to trap the first in my garden, and net the 2nd a few years later from a local patch of Field Maple) More records have appeared last year, and this is now the 2nd? this year so far, albeit a few weeks later than it's normal flight period.

Others species of note were clouds of Anania fuscalis, at least 20 were disturbed, and the pretty little Tortrix Eupoecilia angustana, which would not sit still for a photo!

 

The site needs a lot of work, I was shocked at how much scrub was encroaching onto the chalk grassland, and even onto the bare chalk, crowding rare plants such as Rock-rose.

 

A site management plan will be hopefully drawn up soon to help protect this rather special environ here in Hertfordshire. 

05/06/21 - Hexton Chalk Pit - NW Herts - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths

 

Alder Moth
Brimstone Moth
Brown Rustic
Buff Ermine
Chinese Character
Clouded Silver
Common Carpet
Common Marbled Carpet
Common Pug
Coronet
Grass Rivulet
Great Oak Beauty
Green Carpet
Grey Pug
Heart & Dart
Large Nutmeg
Least Black Arches
Light Brocade
Light Emerald
Lime-speck Pug
Marbled Minor agg
Marbled White Spot
Marsh Pug
Mottled Pug
Orange Footman
Pale Oak Beauty
Pale Tussock
Peppered Moth
Purple Bar
Red Twin-spot Carpet
Rustic Shoulder-knot
Satyr Pug
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Shaded Pug
Shears
Shoulder-striped Wainscot
Shuttle-shaped Dart
Silver-ground Carpet
Small Waved Umber
Straw Dot
Treble Bar
Treble Lines
V-pug
White Ermine
White Point

Micro Moths

 

Acompsia cinerella
Anania fuscalis
Aphomia sociella
Aproaerema sp
Aspilapteryx tringipennella
Batia lunaris
Caloptilia alchimiella
Celypha lacunana
Cnephasia sp
Cochylimorpha straminea
Cochylis atricapitana
Crambus lathoniellus
Elachista albifrontella
Elachista apicipunctella
Elachista biatomella
Endrosis sarcitrella
Epiblema trimaculana sp
Eupoecilia angustana
Isotrias rectifasciana
Nematopogon swammerdamella
Notocelia cynosbatella
Pammene trauniana
Pancalia leuwenhoekella
Plutella xylostella
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
Pseudoswammerdamia combinella
Pyrausta nigrata
Scoparia ambigualis
Syndemis musculana

 

Scrub encroachment on the chalk grassland

Scrub encroachment on the chalk grassland

Actinic Trap next to a large Field Maple

Anania fuscalis

Aproaerema sp

Cnephasia sp

Elachista albifrontella

Eupoecilia angustana

Panmene trauniana

Pyrausta nigrata

Satyr Pug

Shaded Pug