Warndon Thursday 28th Jan

Everyone loves a Red Green Carpet and an 'old' Chestnut mid-winter from 2 in the garden on Thursday night. Acleris schalleriana was way past its best.

Warndon Actinic

An Actinic trap

effort last night in the 'estate' Warndon Wood was curtailed by rain at 20:30 but a Mottled Umber, 2 Pale Brindled Beauty, 18 Spring Usher and 4 Winter Moths made the long carry-in worthwhile.

Bringsty Common January 13th

 The old Robinson got its first run out of the year last night. I'm not sure the number of moths warranted the 14 hours run-time, but in the trap were Pale Brindled Beauty (1), Mottled Umber (2), December (2) and Chestnut (1). At the house windows Agonopterix heracliana (2) and indoors Alucita hexadactlya (1). I also had another Mompha sturnipennella at the study window a few days back in the daytime and have now 20 house records for this elusive micro, accounting for the vast majority of county records (26 in total). Peter Hall

Bringsty Common: Alucita hexadactyla

Bringsty Common: December

Bringsty Common: Mottled Umber

Bringsty Common: Mottled Umber

Bringsty Common: Pale Brindled Beauty

 

2020 Moth Records

 Whist wishing everyone a Happy New Year, it is also the time when you should be looking to collate your moth records and submit them to the County Moth Recorder for inclusion into the county databases. There are 3 main reasons for this. One is to keep the National Moth Recording scheme database up to date, then the local county database up to date and the other is the pending completion of the new West Midlands on-line Moth Atlas, due for release in the Spring. There's still time to include 2020 records in all of course. Best wishes. Peter Hall

Early

 I always think the "handover" between Winter moths and Early moths happens around New Year and in a spiders web outside my study (so from last night - the 30th), my last Early of the year...or is it my first of the new season? As it is dead, I'll process it for the dissection website. Peter Hall

Bringsty Common: Early moth

 

Overwintering Buttoned Snout at Wofferwood Common

 I was a bit surprised this morning to discover a Buttoned Snout on one of my kitchen cabinets. A new species for my list here and not a time of year or setting that I expected to find one. 

I shall have to check the Hop plants in the garden more carefully next year. 

 

 

Opogona omoscopa

I collected a micro-moth from Jarred Tibbetts on the evening of the 2nd December. He had found it while dusting a shelf, near a house plant display at his work at Webbs Garden Centre in West Hagley, earlier that day. VC37 recorder Tony Simpson suggested it may be Opogona omoscopa from the crude record shot I mailed to him. Patrick Clement kindly did a thorough examination independently, after photographing the live moth and confirmed it was a male and new for Worcestershire. Although now resident on most of the Scilly Isles it only has a few records on mainland England including a couple have found in light traps in NE England.