Garden Moth Recording 2011

Mothman · 04-04-2011 11:08pm

thebishop wrote: »

Is this an Oak Beauty?

Sorry, missed this request, it is Oak Beauty, with quite a bit of wear.

thebishop · 05-04-2011 1:29pm

Thanks Mothman.It was in a very wet trap sunday morning when I got home at 6AM.from work.Heavy rain from 3.30.No damage to the light either,was worried the bulb might get wet.Not alot of moths.Had 7 Hebrew character...2 Clouded drab.and1 Oak beauty.

littlebug · 07-04-2011 11:11am

I thought conditions last night would have brought a few moths to the trap but maybe it was a bit too windy as I only got 2 moths, 1 Hebrew Character and 1 Clouded Drab.

Gardener3 · 08-04-2011 12:37pm

I've been away so last night was the first time I'd had the 6w and sheet out in the woods for a week or so.
Warm day followed by a cloudy, damp night with fog by 1am - 231 moths of 24 species!

Brindled Pug x 10
Chestnut x 14
Clouded Drab x 27
Common Quaker x 19
Diurnea fagella x 3
Double-striped Pug x 13
Early Grey x 6
Early Thorn x 9
Early Tooth-striped x 3
Engrailed x 9
Hebrew Character x 64
Lunar Marbled Brown x 4 (NFM)
March Moth x 1
Oak Beauty x 2
Powdered Quaker x 2 (NFM) Now I've seen the 'real thing' I can see why all my hopeful's weren't
Red Chestnut x 2 (NFM)
Ringed Carpet x 1 (NFM)
Scarce Prominent x 1 (NFM)
Small Phoenix x 2 (nfy)
Small Quaker x 19
Square Spot x 2 (nfy)
Twin-spotted Quaker x 14

and two micro's still to be identified.
The star of the show was definitely the Scarce Prominent, but I bet I can't get a photo with its wings spread!

I wonder what tonight will bring?

Mothman · 08-04-2011 9:41pm

Here, its cold by day and night. 5C at moment, though was sunny all day, so may have some new species, but probably will be fewest moths of the season.

With the daytime warmth weather away from east coast, there may be plenty of early records of species.

littlebug · 08-04-2011 10:09pm

It was a gorgeous day here and so far a mild night so I'm seeing a bit more activity than usual out there. I did get a photo of one moth that was above the trap (in case it didn't hang around til morning) and also an odd looking beetle. I'll post the moth pic up when I've figured it out :cool: There was also a bee crash landing all over the place so I didn't hang around too long out there.

thebishop · 08-04-2011 10:34pm

Nice mild night here also. If I could only turn off the street lights.

Mothman · 08-04-2011 10:53pm

Cold 4C, not many moths, but Red sword-grass and Pebble Prominent make up for lack of numbers

Mothman · 09-04-2011 7:01am

A cold night and I'm frozen now! Temp was 6C when trap went on, but down to 3C by midnight and 2C at dawn. Despite this, GMS numbers up by about 20 compared to last few weeks. So numbers not as low as I thought.

0006 Eriocrania subpurpurella 1
0663 Diurnea fagella 2
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 2
1881 Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata) 2
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 3
2003 Pebble Prominent (Notodonta ziczac) 5
2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa) 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 2
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 13
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 39
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 32
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 7
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 49
2236 Pale Pinion (Lithophane hepatica) 1
2241 Red Sword-grass (Xylena vetusta) 1
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 6
2469 Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix) 1

littlebug · 09-04-2011 9:00am

:D

9FCD4C9CDB1B400A94A71C5CFDFFA8FF-0000331913-0002256398-00500L-1B60E3B6C6674E74A33814E81F45F9F7.jpg

30+ moths with another couple of species new to me. Full update later but I just had to show this one off

Mothman · 09-04-2011 9:04am

Nice one

I'll try get photo of Red Sword-grass...not easy...its just a piece of stick

Pebble Prominent is easier, I've an idea for a photo of this one

thebishop · 09-04-2011 11:29am

Not a large catch here, but a few new to me.Temp didnt drop below 9.5c.
Flame shoulder x1
Early thorn x1
Hebrew character x5
Oak beauty. x1
Small quaker x3
Clouded drab x1
Emmelina monodactyla x1
Oak beauty well battered, might be the same one I got last week.

littlebug · 09-04-2011 11:43am

MM can you help with this one? The best I can do with my limited knowledge is Agonopterix Propinquella but could be mad wrong as it doesn't seem too common ?

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littlebug · 09-04-2011 11:59am

Min temp 8C

Clouded Drab x 11
Powdered Quaker x 10
Hebrew Character x 5
Emmelina Monodactyla x1
Early Grey x1
Muslin Moth x 1
Double Striped Pug x 1
Pale Pinion x 1 (possibly)

+ the micro above.

V_Moth · 09-04-2011 12:13pm

Hi,

Just having no luck with the moth trap at the moment. After the moth trap was blown over on the first night, I tried setting it up again on Wednesday. Unfortunately after a couple of minutes, the light dimmed and went out completely after c30 minutes. The battery was fully charged (4Ah).

Got some new 6W bulbs yesterday and now absolutely nothing is happening. Does it need a larger battery pack (10Ah/12Ah)?

The trap in question is the E7588C on:
http://www.watdon.co.uk/the-naturalists/acatalog/Moth_traps_-_battery_powered.html

Thanks in advance...

Gardener3 · 09-04-2011 2:38pm

Hi,
That looks like the same trap I'm using but when I bought it W&D sent me an 8W light with it by mistake, which is known to have problems. I only realised when I looked closely at the writing on the light after it packed up but when I contacted them they were very helpful and replaced it with the 6W.

I use the Z6831 12ah 12V rechargeable battery which seems to last 12-15 hours. Maybe give them a ring?

Mothman · 09-04-2011 4:03pm

V_Moth wrote: »

Hi,

Just having no luck with the moth trap at the moment. After the moth trap was blown over on the first night, I tried setting it up again on Wednesday. Unfortunately after a couple of minutes, the light dimmed and went out completely after c30 minutes. The battery was fully charged (4Ah).

Got some new 6W bulbs yesterday and now absolutely nothing is happening. Does it need a larger battery pack (10Ah/12Ah)?

The trap in question is the E7588C on:
http://www.watdon.co.uk/the-naturalists/acatalog/Moth_traps_-_battery_powered.html

Thanks in advance...

Bad luck

I wonder is it a dodgy battery. First of all make sure it is a 12v battery. A 4ah when full and in good nick will have no problem powering the trap, but would be struggling to run it for the night.
Note that watdon mention "a minimum rating of 12ah"

Most moth'ers use a minimum of 7ah for summer use, but may not be enough capacity in early Spring or late Autumn.

Make sure there is no light going into the solar switch makng it think it is daytime!

Firstly I'd try a different battery. Your car would have a 12v battery, but may be inaccessible, but its an idea to try it out just to see if it'll turn on.

Mothman · 09-04-2011 4:10pm

littlebug wrote: »

MM can you help with this one? The best I can do with my limited knowledge is Agonopterix Propinquella but could be mad wrong as it doesn't seem too common ?

That's a good call. The right family (genus) but wrong species
It's 697 Agonopterix arenella

Both species hibernate and are around at this time of year, though propinquella is less frequently recorded

Mothman · 09-04-2011 4:15pm

In trap this morning
Pebble Prominents. They didn't cooperate for what I wanted.....

54D477DA62304F50B9540DA9A63F7245-0000317152-0002256669-00800L-85A1585694B244E0AC596F86958CACA2.jpg

The Herald posed well

2DDD5158A06F4BE9BA6C76BAF9203CA0-0000317152-0002256668-00800L-CF1A2DECCC0F47889EB7B786B523601F.jpg

and the REd Sword-grass played dead

B67AF4385F254D908ABE26222AA4A1E8-0000317152-0002256667-00800L-CA7A60AD928247D3B664EF6F29B2164A.jpg

6579C2926BBE43D9A0838720D5BB5E30-0000317152-0002256666-00800L-A1EAF6E4EDC64701A50D1701CAFCFBD5.jpg

48A6836D853B4A7A86B29FCC64275C42-0000317152-0002256665-00800L-BF7BB99A9CC14AAA8A3E9A361779FDC8.jpg

This one I took in Feb and forgot to upload. Take a look at its eye. It was at sallow blossom

Twin-spotted Quaker

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V_Moth · 10-04-2011 6:42pm

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I'll try a new battery - 7/10Ah. If it still doesn't work, I'll contact the suppliers.

Awesome pics MM, especially the pollen covered TS Quaker!

Half-cocked · 11-04-2011 10:24am

Had a Herald on the back wall last night:D A first for our garden.
picture.php?albumid=1295&pictureid=9241

littlebug · 16-04-2011 8:00am

Surprisingly quiet on the moth front last night given how mild it was (min 8.5C), though it did rain a bit.

Clouded drab x2
Powdered Quaker x1
Dotted Border x1
Muslin Moth x1

Brindled Beauty (not 100% sure) x1
1 micro that I haven't time to identify just now.

Mothman · 16-04-2011 8:10am

littlebug wrote: »

Brindled Beauty (not 100% sure) x1

Quite likely....it's one I expect you to get and it is right season.

Check out Least Black Arches
macro moth, thumbnail size (ie. small) bird dropping moth so hard to see, often outside of trap on wall etc (look again!).....possibly even your micro

Mothman · 16-04-2011 8:19am

Cool moonlit night with min of 4C

Poorest catch in terms of numbers since February with 62 moths of 17 species.

125W MV
0670 Depressaria daucella 1
1053 Acleris hastiana 1
1746 Shoulder Stripe (Anticlea badiata) 1
1759 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata) 4
1852 Brindled Pug (Eupithecia abbreviata) 4
1862 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) 2
1881 Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata) 2
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria) 3
2010 Scarce Prominent (Odontosia carmelita) 1
2078 Least Black Arches (Nola confusalis) 5
2091 Dark Sword-grass (Agrotis ipsilon) 1
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 8
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta) 11
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda) 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 12
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 3

Gardener3 · 16-04-2011 12:27pm

Very poor night with the 40W in the garden for the GMS:

Early Thorn x 1
Clouded Drab x 2
Hebrew Character x 4

If nothing else its really shown me the difference habitat makes to a catch - I'm going back to the woods tonight with the 6W!

thebishop · 16-04-2011 12:46pm

I had one single Muslin moth and he wasnt even inside the trap.Temp was 9c.Thought it would be a good night for moths.:(

As he was the only one took his picture.

littlebug · 16-04-2011 8:04pm

Brindled beauty?

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Mothman wrote: »

Check out Least Black Arches
macro moth, thumbnail size (ie. small) bird dropping moth so hard to see, often outside of trap on wall etc (look again!).....possibly even your micro

No sign..... and I think my micro might be a (caddis) fly

I wonder why we all had lower numbers last night. I would have thought conditions were perfect

I'm tempted to have a go again tonight (Non GMS).

Mothman · 16-04-2011 8:27pm

Yes, Brindled Beauty

There is always a lull in numbers late April and May before the summer species get going.

I did have a bright moon and it was cool. The moon has a big impact.

Mothman · 17-04-2011 7:54am

Loads of Caddis Flies come to light traps.

A few from Sat morning
Small Phoenix. The typical resting posture with abdomen pointing up can be seen. 2 individuals showing how the central crossband can be dissected by the yellow lines or not. There are far more extreme examples both ways