Chippenham Fen - Field Trip - 30/09/23

The last trip out for the year was at Chippenham Fen on the last day of September, a warm and humid day of 20 degrees during the Saturday, in fact it didn't drop much below that as the night went on, with lows of a heady 17 degrees, unprecedented for nearly October.

I set up 3 traps in anticipation for a good night, but moths were rather slow to the lights and it took a few hours to start seeing the numbers I would have expected given the perfect conditions.

In fact, I found 1/3rd of my species list nectaring on a nearby large ivy bush.

By 11pm the wind had really picked up and scuppered the catch a bit, but then... what was that bright white Box-moth, surely not..YES! my first British record of Palpita vitrealis, what a stunningly delicate little moth. Slghtly smaller than the similiar Cydalima but so much more beautiful, result!

A small Large Wainscot also got the heart racing for something more unusual. Blair's Wainscot was suggested by others, but the hindwings were duly checked and nope, just a runt Large.

Some other quality moths were recorded including Acrolepia autumnitella, Brick (Which seems scarcer nowadays), Brown-spot Pinion (The form rufa-pallida), the first Merveille du Jour of the year, both forms of the Sallow and a mint Vapourer Moth which is always a treat to see.

And that was it, 2023's last field trip. I wonder what the trips out next year will yield. With a few new sites on the radar to try out, it could be an exciting year.

30/09/23 - Chippenham Fen - East Cambridgeshire - 3 traps, 125w MV Robinson Trap, 250w Clear Mercury Robinson Trap and 62w Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Barred Sallow
Beaded Chestnut
Black Rustic
Brick
Brimstone Moth
Brindled Green
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing
Brown-spot Pinion
Centre-barred Sallow
Chestnut
Clifden nonpareil
Common Marbled Carpet
Copper Underwing
Dark Chestnut
Dark Sword-grass
Deep-brown Dart
Dingy Footman
Frosted Orange
Garden Carpet
Green-brindled Crescent
Grey-pine Carpet
Large Yellow Underwing
Large Wainscot 40+
Lesser Yellow Underwing
Lunar Underwing
Lunar Yellow Underwing
Merveille du Jour
Pink-barred Sallow
Red-green Carpet
Red-line Quaker
Sallow
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Silver Y
Small Wainscot
Snout
Spruce Carpet
Square-spot Rustic
Straw Dot
Turnip Moth
Vapourer Moth
Webb's Wainscot
White-point

Micro Moths

Acleris sparsana
Acrolepia autumnitella
Agonopterix arenella
Carcina quercana
Cydalima perspectalis
Emmelina monodactyla
Epinotia nisella
Epiphyas postvittana
Palpita vitrealis
Phyllonorycter messaniella
Scrobipalpa ocellatella

Acrolepia autumnitella

Beaded Chestnut

Brick

Brindled Green

Brown-spot Pinion f.rufa-pallida

Chestnut

Merveille du Jour

Palpita vitrealis

Phyllonorycter messaniella

Pink-barred Sallow

Red-line Quaker

Sallow f.flavescens

Small Wainscot variation

Vapourer Moth