Garden Moth Recording 2011

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

and another which I've pondered over for ages and the best I can come up with is a well worn variant of Common Marbled carpet.

I'd go along with that.

littlebug

Week of GMS. I've completely lost count and I'll depend on this thread for completing the spreadsheet! (sorry G3:o).

Another cold drizzly miserable night

Mothman

I've lost count weeks ago

Weather is not brilliant but I don't feel so bad when the rest of week is awful as well.

Gardener3

I'm starting to feel like I've lost track of most things by this point, including which GMS week it is .......

At the moment its not too windy and drizzle rather than rain so I'm hoping for better than last night when I managed a grand count of 10 moths of 4 species in a different part of the garden!

Mothman

CDs were suggested as a bird deterrent. They were a spectacular failure. In fact the supporting poles provided extra vantage points for the Robins.

On the sheet this morning were Cinnabar and Chines Character, the wings of Pale Tussock, Peppered Moth, Poplar Hawk-moth and Buff-tip. Small moths are ate whole.
I'm going to take advantage of the GMS rules and give it a break for 3 weeks and try again.

60 species logged this morning. By far and away the best night of a windy and cool week. Min temp of 12C, a little dampness, and while it was breezy, it was relatively calm compared to rest of week.

0597 Elachista atricomella 1
0986 Syndemis musculana 1
0998 Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) 1
1007 Capua vulgana 1
1076 Celypha lacunana 2
1174 Epiblema cynosbatella 2
1219 Lathronympha strigana 1
1342 Eudonia angustea 1
1458 Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta) 1
1651 Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata) 1
1693 Cream Wave (Scopula floslactata) 5
1709 Satin Wave (Idaea subsericeata) 2
1722 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) 1
1725 Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe ferrugata) 1
1727 Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) 8
1738 Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) 1
1759 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata) 1
1760 Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) 1
1764 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) 12
1768 Grey Pine Carpet (Thera obeliscata) 4
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria) 1
1778 May Highflyer (Hydriomena impluviata) 1
1819 Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata) 5
1867 Treble-bar (Aplocera plagiata) 2
1904 Scorched Wing (Plagodis dolabraria) 1
1906 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) 5
1918 Lunar Thorn (Selenia lunularia) 1
1920 Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata) 4
1931 Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) 4
1956 Common Wave (Cabera exanthemata) 1
1957 White-pinion Spotted (Lomographa bimaculata) 1
1958 Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) 6
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) 1
1991 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) 5
1994 Buff-tip (Phalera bucephala) 1
2003 Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac) 1
2011 Pale Prominent (Pterostoma palpina) 4
2028 Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) 1
2060 White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) 4
2069 Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae) 5
2089 Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) 2
2098 Flame (Axylia putris) 1
2102 Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) 3
2123 Small Square-spot (Diarsia rubi) 11
2126 Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum) 30
2160 Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea) 1
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 1
2199 Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens) 2
2236 Pale Pinion (Lithophane hepatica) 1
2280 Miller (Acronicta leporina) 1
2326 Clouded-bordered Brindle (Apamea crenata) 8
2326 Clouded-bordered Brindle [melanic form] (Apamea crenata ab. combusta) 1
2330 Dusky Brocade (Apamea remissa) 1
2337x Marbled Minor agg. (Oligia strigilis agg.) 3
2381 Uncertain (Hoplodrina alsines) 2
2387 Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus) 1
2410 Marbled White Spot (Protodeltote pygarga) 1
2450 Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita) 2
2474 Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis) 2
2484 Pinion-streaked Snout (Schrankia costaestrigalis) 2

littlebug

Small numbers again.

1 x Peppered Moth

Shark?


and this one that has me going round in circles....

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

Shark?

Yes

and this one that has me going round in circles....

Try Pale-shouldered Brocade, but its a difficult angle to work with.

littlebug

Mothman wrote: »

Try Pale-shouldered Brocade, but its a difficult angle to work with.

Same moth.
This pic had me thinking Clouded Bordered Brindle but it looks quite different in each photo.

The macro on my camera really isn't great... doesn't help.

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

Same moth.
This pic had me thinking Clouded Bordered Brindle

and you think correctly

The macro on my camera really isn't great... doesn't help.

Its grand for the macro moths. What helps is having the moth in a good position :pac:

littlebug

Mothman wrote: »

and you think correctly

Its grand for the macro moths. What helps is having the moth in a good position :pac:

ok I was in a bit of a hurry this morning (excuse)

Gardener3

To my surprise it was the best night for quite a while, the 40W Actinic in the garden for the GMS having 72 moths of 35 species:

Brimstone
Brown Silver-line
Buff Ermine
Buff Tip
Clouded Silver
Clouded-bordered Brindle
Common Marbled Carpet
Common Pug
Common Wave
Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet
Eyed Hawk-moth (x 8)
Flame Carpet
Flame Shoulder
Green Carpet
Grey Pine Carpet
Hebrew Character
Herald
Iron Prominent
Knot Grass
Least Black Arches
Nut-tree Tussock
Oblique Carpet
Pale Prominent
Pale Tussock
Pale-shouldered Brocade
Peppered Moth
Poplar Hawkmoth
Purple Bar
Scalloped Hazel
Silver-ground Carpet
Small Square Spot
Spectacle
Spruce Carpet
Water Carpet
White Ermine
and some pugs that I'm still trying to figure out.

I also put the Actinic 6W out in the woods and numbers were roughly the same with a slightly different mix of species. A very tattered Lobster Moth was a surprise and Beautiful Snout was new for the year - one of my favourite moths.

Half-cocked

Just back from Mallorca. I've ID'd most of what I saw over there but these 2 are causing me some problems:

This first one is a daytime moth, I suspect may be a very faded Hummingbird Hawkmoth?


Haven't a clue about this one:

thebishop

Windy and light rain on Friday night when I put the trap out.Rain got heavy and the wind got stronger as the night went on.Total catch of one Clouded-bordered brindle...................
Wonder Mothman have you tried one of those plastic owls to try and keep that Robin away? Might be better than the snake.

Half-cocked

Need some help with these:

Heart & Dart?


Clouded-bordered Brindle?


Turnip Moth?


A Brocade - Beautiful or Light?


Some type of Rustic maybe?


and finaly, I haven't a clue about this one:

Mothman

Half-cocked wrote: »

Heart & Dart?

Clouded-bordered Brindle?

Turnip Moth?

All correct

A Brocade - Beautiful or Light?

Can you get better photo?
Also thrown Pale-shouldered Brocade and Dog's Tooth into the mix. Latter 2 most likely considering location.

Some type of Rustic maybe?

Small Square-spot

and finaly, I haven't a clue about this one:

Oligia Species

One of 3
Rufous Minor,
Marbled Minor,
Tawny Marbled Minor, but dissection to confirm, so it gets logged as Marbled Minor agg.

I'll have a further look at the Brocade one and see if I can sort it out.

Mothman

Mothman wrote: »

I'll have a further look at the Brocade one and see if I can sort it out.

It's a Dog's Tooth
See
http://www2.nrm.se/en/svenska_fjarilar/l/lacanobia_suasa.html
http://ukleps.org/Noctuids/2159s.jpg
http://www.lepiforum.de/cgi-bin/lepiwiki.pl?Lacanobia_Suasa

An unusual form here, though I have seen it.

Mothman

Half-cocked wrote: »

This first one is a daytime moth, I suspect may be a very faded Hummingbird Hawkmoth?

Agreed

Haven't a clue about this one:

I don't know either

Half-cocked

Here's the only other pic I took of the Dog's Tooth - not very good I'm afraid. Thanks for the help with the others.

thebishop

Yellow Shell.Saw this one flying around today.

littlebug

Caught my first poplar hawk moth last night

Plus this.... some kind of carpet....so worn and frayed that I'm stumped Everything I come up with is either wrong for my area or indeed for Ireland so I'll leave it in the hands of those who know better...

Mothman

littlebug wrote: »

Plus this.... some kind of carpet....so worn and frayed that I'm stumped Everything I come up with is either wrong for my area or indeed for Ireland so I'll leave it in the hands of those who know better...

Can't tell from that photo and perhaps not doable.
Do you have conifers nearby?

Tawny-barred Angle is a possibility.

littlebug

Mothman wrote: »

Can't tell from that photo and perhaps not doable.
Do you have conifers nearby?

Tawny-barred Angle is a possibility.

it was very skittish and that was taken in a rare second of stillness so I have no better pic. It was out of the box as soon as I opened it so I just opened the door and let it go.... looked like it had seen enough trauma!
There are a couple of small scots pine (I think) just over the wall so within 15m with some more conifers a bit further away... probably all within 50m so tawny barred angle is a possibility so

Half-cocked

Switched on the trap for an hour this evening and got our first Buff Arches of the season. A stunning looking creature:



Also trying to ID these 2:

Mothman

Half-cocked wrote: »

Also trying to ID these 2:

Need an idea of size, but pending this info, my suggestions are Marbled Minor agg. (one of 3 species, but need dissection to confirm) and Bee Moth Aphomia sociella

Half-cocked

Mothman wrote: »

Need an idea of size, but pending this info, my suggestions are Marbled Minor agg. (one of 3 species, but need dissection to confirm) and Bee Moth Aphomia sociella

Both moths were approx 20mm across wing tips. Note that the 2nd moth usually had its wings completely closed so that only the fore wings were visible. Hope this helps?

littlebug

GMS week 14.
I've updated my file and the grand total species count in my garden now stands at 30 . Hopefully the good weather and mild night will add a few more to that by morning.

littlebug

A bit more interesting this week.
16 moths of 9 species.

5 x Heart and Dart
3 x White Ermine
2 x Large Yellow Underwing
1 x Shark
1 x Grey Dagger
1 x Buff Ermine
1 x Clouded Bordered Brindle

this one... dark brocade maybe?



and this micro (I think...not good with these really small things:o). It got away before I could get a decent photo.

Gardener3

Despite the strong ENE wind it was a good night with 155 moths of 54 species recorded.
New for the year were:
Beautiful Carpet
Beautiful Golden Y
Bright-line Brown-eye
Buff Arches
Gold Spot
Grey Arches
Heart and Dart
Large Yellow Underwing
Riband Wave
Small Angle Shades
Smoky Wainscot

I always check the sheet about midnight - 1am and it's interesting to compare that list with what's in the trap in the morning as there is usually a slight difference in species recorded.
Last night I'd have missed Broom Moth, Lobster Moth, Scorched Wave, Peach Blossom and Pebble Prominent as they weren't in the trap this morning.

thebishop

ID please Mothman. Is the first one a Pretty pinion? Its a one cent coin beside it. is the second one a moth?

Gardener3

The first is a Flame Carpet, the second is a caddis fly