Calybites phasianipennella

I was surprised to find this micro in the Robinson this morning. A Rusty-dot Pearl was the only migrant.

Boxing Day Pug

A Double-striped Pug indoors last night. Can't find any in the Herefordshire records earlier than March.
Phyl King

Early Early Moth

Not much else here at Norchard on a mild but windy night. Two Mottled Umber and a Beautiful Plume.
Happy New Year from Mike

Mothy Mutterings

The latest Mothy Mutterings newsletter from Butterfly Conservation is available via this link.
http://www.mothscount.org/uploads/Mothy%20Mutterings%20December%202015(1).pdf

Early species already!

The first night for what seems ages with little wind seemed a good excuse to stash a battery actinic in Trench Wood for 6 hours. Sod's Law as soon as I got it lit - light rain commenced,  so hand held an umbrella over the kit for the first hour! Moths were then coming in quite regularly so left it till 22:40. Amazed to see a Dyseriocrania subpurpurella in by 19:00 followed by a Pale Brindled Beauty. The final tally was a Caloptilia betulicola/elongella, Acleris cristana/hastiana which got away, Dark Chestnut, 13 Mottled Umbers, a Scarce Umber, 2 Feathered Thorns, December Moth,  15+ Winter Moths  and a Red Green Carpet. Got home to find another Pale Brindled Beauty in the garden Robinson. Both beauties are quite dark and very well marked which poses the question ' are the ones we normally see for the first time in January, these days already faded and worn?'.

Warndon: Pale Brindled Beauty

Trench Wood: Pale Brindled Beauty

Trench Wood: Scarce Umber

Bringsty Common Final Tally 2015

I've been here now for just over a year and have been running a moth trap on good nights throughout the period.  In the Summer I often ran 2 lights and one warm July night I even ran 3, there is just enough area so the lights don't conflict. My species total stands at 572. Micros came to 257 and macros 315. Only 1 county first and this was Coleophora tamesis, unless you want to count Delplanqueia inscriptella, but I suspect most dilutellas will turn out to be this species in the end.

Other news, 2 rarities caught this year in Herefordshire, one was Aplota palpella (palpellus), caught in the Brockhampton Estate which is the first record since 1899 and the other Salebriopsis albicilla, from Haugh Wood, which appears to be the second record, the first record was 2006, and more remarkable as it was caught well away from Small-leaved Lime. Robin and I are already planning trapping nearer to the foodplant for 2016. Peter Hall

Common Quaker

Common Quaker here at Norchard on the 30th of November. A bit unusual to be so early. Also Northern Winter moth and Winter moth.

Crocidosema plebejana

I found this Crocidosema plebejana in the garden mv trap this morning. Possibly a migrant and seems to be the third record for Worcestershire, assuming I have identified it correctly. A Pale Mottled Willow was also amongst a few resident species.

Late Migrant

A Dark Sword-grass here in Warndon Villages on Tuesday night and micros including; Caloptilia semifascia, dark form Apple Leaf-miner, Scrobipalpa costella, Phyllonorycter messaniella, Leek Moth and Garden Rose Tortrix

Warndon: Dark Sword-grass

Caloptilia sp ?

I trapped on 4th November with temperatures reaching a minimum of 11.3c overnight.

2 Traps produced 75 moths of 20 species of the usual Autumn mix very similar to Peter Halls last post. Even got single Large Yellow Underwings in each trap. Thought I'd seen the last of those.

I also had this Caloptilia which I reckon is either elongella or betulicola but as I am not familiar with either I wonder if anyone can confirm either way.

I believe the foodplant for elongella is Aspen which I do not have close by and betulicola as the name implies is Birch of which I have a large example in the garden. betulicola is also supposed to have white hind legs which this example seems to have but not as white as the front legs.

I am leaning towards betulicola but not sure if I have enough for a satisfactory ID. I no longer have the moth.

Any comments?

Pete Smith
Dodford

Caloptilia

Caloptilia

New for the Colwall garden

Very pleased to get the first Oak Nycteoline for the garden last night, plus my first ever Large Wainscot - somewhat battered - on 2nd.  Phyl King

Oak Nycteoline

Large Wainscot

What is the collective noun for a group of Feathered Thorns?

I'm going to use the word Duster. The trap here at Bringsty last night produced 17 species including the first December moths of the year. This means my list is almost complete now for the year. Topping the numbers was a duster of Feathered Thorns - 18 in total. Next most frequent was Yellow-line Quaker on 6. 3 December moths were in the trap in total.
Feathered Thorn 18
Green Brindled-crescent 3
Barred Sallow 1
Red-green Carpet 3
Snout 1
Red-line Quaker 1
Satellite 1
December 3
Brick 2
Turnip 1
Common Marbled Carpet 2
Sprawler 1
Beaded Chestnut 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Yellow-line Quaker 6
Spruce Carpet 1
Novemnals 8
Eudonia angustea 1

A friend of mine termed Novemnals as an aggregated name of November and Autumnal. Seems to describe them perfectly.

Bringsty Common: December moth

Bringsty Common: A duster of Feathered Thorns

Bringsty Common: Feathered Thorn

Peter Hall

Moths Count update October 2015

 

The latest "Emoth" newsletter is available from the National Moth Recording Scheme, via Zoe Randle at Butterfly Conservation.

Zoe says:
"Here is the latest edition of E-moth, it contains the usual update on the National Moth Recording Scheme, the programme for the National Moth Recorders’ Meeting on Saturday 30th January 2016, feedback about Moth Night 2015 and some other interesting snippets. Please feel free to pass E-moth onto others or include parts of it in your own newsletters, websites etc."

Click on the image to read the newsletter

Vestal

Twenty five species recorded here at Norchard last night, including this rather late Vestal. Singles of Rush Veneer, Diamond-back Moth and a Silver Y made up the migrants.

Tuta absoluta

A final survey of Avon Meadows Wetlands, Pershore last night came up with a surprise pristine Tuta absoluta which, was more likely from the nearby horticultural glasshouses of the Vale of Evesham than the Iberian peninsula, despite that damp southerly breeze. Other more expected species were a minimum of 12 Large Wainscots, Brick, Beaded Chestnut, Red-line Quaker, 2 Garden Rose Tortrix and a Scrobipalpa costella. 4 of these were new for the reserve.

Avon Meadows: Tuta absoluta

Bringsty Common October 30th

Very mild last night and I ran one mv light all night. 23 species if you count November moth agg. as a single species. I shall be looking at octavals soon. November moth agg. topped the numbers at 20, followed by Yellow-line Quaker at 11. Mottled Umber appeared (2), so I have very little now to add to the list for year 1. I'll do another post when all the micros are id'd, but we are running well past 500 species so far for the garden. Other moths of interest to grace the trap last night were: Blood-vein, Snout, Sprawler, Grey Shoulder-knot, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Satellite and Grey Pine Carpet, plus the usual Yellow Underwing free group. Peter Hall

Hill-topping Moth

Whilst looking for the (then absent) Snow Buntings at the summit of North Hill, Malvern yesterday afternoon at 1,200 feet, the last thing I was expecting to see was a close fly-by Hummingbird Hawk-moth zipping south. FFY as well! Wonder if there are any November records for VC 37?  Have about 100+ tiny Pearly Underwing larvae at moment - let me know if anybody wants some to rear through on Dandelion, Dock, Cabbage etc.

Winners and losers

Just been comparing results with the last 9 years of recording and come up with the  following lists. How do they compare to your recording?
Winners: Beaded Chestnut, Black Rustic, Beautiful Hook Tip, Buff Ermine, Buff Tip, Common Rustic agg, Flame Shoulder, Dot Moth, Lime Speck Pug, The Rustic, Six-striped Rustic, Small Square Spot.
Losers: Common, Garden and Green Carpets, Common and Dingy Footman, Lunar Underwing, Purple Bar, September Thorn, Treble Lines, White Ermine...plus long term decline for Brown--Line Bright-Eye.
October so far has been above average (certainly better than September except for my garden first Hedge Rustic on the 9th). Last night 3x Merveilles and 2x Streak took the macro list for this year to a round 300.
Finally-in response to a former blog about Peppered variety, we have recorded 500 Peppered in the garden since 2007. This included 6 intermediate (1.2%) and 6 dark (1.2%).
Ian Machin

Ivy Flowers

Just been out to check some Ivy flowers at Warndon Wood and despite the councils best attempts to destroy half of it, I managed to find a Yellow-line Quaker, 2 Bricks and 6 Chestnuts in 30 minutes on what remains. The moths are quite approachable and continue 'nectaring' despite being in the torch beam. 70% of the flowers are already past obvious stamen stage and developing into berries. Went 2 weeks ago and saw nothing at all.

Warndon Wood: Yellow-line Quaker

Bringsty Common October 21st

Inspired by Bill's post, and a mild but breezy night, I ran one mv trap in the garden. 27 species recorded, of which 5 were micros. I thought I would list them to compare. In order of recording:
Red-line Quaker 2
Merveille du Jour 3
Red-green Carpet 3
Barred Sallow 2
Figure of Eight 2
Sallow 3
Yellow-line Quaker 11
Angle-shades 1
Feathered Thorn 1
Rosy Rustic 1
Common Marbled Carpet 1
Lunar Underwing 2
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 4
Green-brindled Crescent 3
Satellite 1
Beaded Chestnut 1
Chestnut 2
Pink-barred Sallow 1
Black Rustic 1
Brown-spot Pinion 1
November moth agg. 1
Acleris variegana 1
Acleris rhombana 1
Acleris laterana 1
Hypsopygia costalis 1
Nomophila noctuella 1

Bringsty Common: Satellite

Bringsty Common: Hypsopygia costalis

Bringsty Common: Figure of 8

Bringsty Common: Merveille du Jour

Hypsopygia costalis is rather late, but not exceptionally so.
Peter Hall

Balcony moths

Sunday night was a productive one for moths on my balcony overlooking the Laugherne Brook, with 19 moths of 13 species recorded. A fresh Merveille du Jour undoubtedly stole the show.

1 Merveille du Jour
1 Dusky Thorn
1 Blair's Shoulder-knot
1 Lunar Underwing
1 Barred Sallow
2 Lesser Yellow Underwing
2 Large Yellow Underwing
1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
1 Angle Shades
1 Black Rustic
1 Red-line Quaker
5 Common Marbled Carpet
1 Prays ruficeps

Merveille du Jour

Angle Shades

Black Rustic

Barred Sallow

Common Marbled Carpet

Dusky Thorn

Phyllonorycter comparella

This little gem emerged yesterday courtesy of a leaf mine collected along the Laugherne Brook last week...

Phyllonorycter comparella

Bringsty Common October 4th & 5th

Finally a warmer night! I ran a single MV light on the 4th and caught 116 moths of 31 species (26 macro and 5 micro). Topping the bill was Large Yellow Underwing (24), followed by Lunar Underwing (19) and then Black Rustic (10). The catch was dominated by Autumn species and new for the year were Deep-brown Dart, Beaded Chestnut, Barred Sallow, Pine Carpet and Green-brindled Crescent.

Meanwhile on the very mild and wetter 5th, despite early night heavy rain (0.36 inches overnight), the trap was busy for the time of year, even if it was only Tipula paludosa. 28 macros and 9 micros. 104 moths. Additions from the 4th were Yellow-line Quaker, Brick, Turnip, Rosy Rustic, Common Wainscot, Knot Grass, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Dusky Thorn, Agonopterix arenella, Orthopygia (Hypsopygia) glaucinalis, Epiphyas postvittana and the rather nice Palpita vitrealis. Peter Hall

Bringsty Common 4th: Deep-brown Dart

Bringsty Common 4th: Green-brindled Crescent

Bringsty Common 5th: Palpita vitrealis

Leaf mines along the Laugherne Brook

I'm lucky enough to have my student house in Worcester back out onto the Laugherne Brook, with a fantastic range of broad-leaved trees overhanging our garden. I'm looking forward to spending the next month or so blitzing them for leaf-mines, but here are some I found in a brief search yesterday evening...

Stigmella aceris on Field Maple

I believe the row of Poplars behind our house are where Tony first discovered Phyllonorycter comparella new to Worcestershire. Many of the trees are out of reach, but some of the more accessible saplings had mines containing pupae which I hope will emerge soon...

Phyllonorycter comparella

Phyllonorycter platani on London Plane.

Phyllonorycter leucographella - emerged from a leaf-mine collected from Pyracantha last week.

Does not seem like winter just yet?

Despite wall to wall sunshine and daytime 18 degrees C this fresh Mottled Umber was in the Warndon Trap yesterday morning. Species more typical of September this week were Brindled Green, Pink-barred Sallow and both forms of Barred Sallow. Micros included Caloptilia semifascia and 2 Rhomboid Tortrix. Numbers generally low though with clear skies and very big moons!

Warndon: Mottled Umber
 



Warndon: Brindled Green

Warndon: Barred Sallow

Little and Large

Rob Hemming and myself went off to Haugh Wood last night as the weather looked mild and promising. Periods of light to heavy drizzle. But it was really quiet and very few Autumnal species putting in an appearance. We did get Oak Lutestring, Bordered Beauty, Sallow, Barred Sallow and Brown-spot Pinion, but in the end, running 4 mv traps for 3 hours, the total was just over 20 species. I spent the last hour staring at my 2 traps waiting in vain for a moth to arrive. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my single mv trap was busy, and I recorded 38 species including Pearly Underwing, Flounced Chestnut, Blair's Shoulder-knot, Brindled Green along with Frosted Orange. The contrast between the 2 sites was huge. Peter Hall

Haugh Wood: Barred Sallow

Bringsty Common: Pink-barred Sallow

Bringsty Common: Blair's Shoulder-knot

Bringsty Common: Frosted Orange

Bringsty Common: Pearly Underwing

Convolvulus Hawk-moth

At last a Convolvulus Hawkmoth has made it into Herefordshire in 2015.
Phil Bradley caught one last night at Maund Common on the edge of Bodenham. Regrettably I didn't trap as I felt it would be too cold. I didn't even bother to check my beds of Nicotiana which no doubt were buzzing with Convolvuli last night.......serves me right!

Maund Common: Convolvulus Hawk-moth

Robin Hemming, Bodenham VC 36

Palpita vitrealis and more



Warndon: Palpita vitrealis

  A relatively bumper night here in Warndon with a Palpita vitrealis here to MV light overnight (NFG and 6th Worcs record); also 2 Silver Y and a Painted Lady which roosted overnight on the garden Whitebeam, was seen to settle there at 15.00 yesterday and still present this morning. Bonus Pale Eggar and Deep-brown Dart also in trap. Who needs the coast when it is as good as this out the back door!

Warndon: Pale Eggar

 

Warndon: Deep-brown Dart

 

Warndon: Painted Lady