Field Trip - Ashwell Quarry - 22/05/17

On Monday night and after a really warm day peaking at around 25 degrees, it was off to Ashwell Quarry with traps in tow.

Trevor and myself set about setting up all of the lights spread across the reserve covering nearly all of it.

We did a little bit of 'dusking' before it was time to switch the lights on and turned up a few micros, notably Cauchas fibulella (Is this moth on every patch of Germander Speedwell in the County of does it just favour chalky areas where the plant seems to flourish?).

The night started well and we had a bit of cloud cover to boot, but that did disappear eventually to leave a large clear sky and a slight drop in temperature to 13 degrees by 2am.

The thing that did hamper us slightly was the fact that the wind got up a bit as the night went on.

It was good to get Netted Pug which is still a scarce moth in the County and cracking to look at, also Trevor saw his first ever Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, a pretty little tortrix moth.

Also a Geometer had us really stumped. To Trevor's trap we potted up a dark grey Emerald looking species, which after much searching of books and the web I finally settled on the rare 'nigra' form of Blood-vein, minus the vein marking and with a hint of 'blood' along the fringe of the forewings

There a few outstanding specimens to be gen det, a Cochylis species and a Scrobipalpa species.

Generally numbers were a little down on what we had hoped and we didn't quite get to the target of 100 species but nevertheless some good fresh specimens were observed and it was a pleasure to just get out there and give it a go!

Catch Report - 22/05/17 - Ashwell Quarry - North-west Herts - 8 traps in total - 3x 125w MV Robinson Trap 1x 160w MBT Robinson Trap 1x 40w Actinic + 15w LED Trap 1x 5w LED Trap Uva/uvb Trap & 1x 80w Actinic Trap

 

92 species

Macro Moths

Angle Shades 

Blood-vein

Brimstone Moth

Brown Rustic 

Common Pug

Clouded Silver

Common Carpet

Common Marbled Carpet 

Common Swift

Common Wainscot

Figure of Eighty

Flame Shoulder

Garden Carpet 

Green Carpet

Grey-pine Carpet

Large Nutmeg

Large Yellow Underwing

Latticed Heath

Least Black Arches

Light Brocade 

Light Emerald

Lime-speck Pug

Marbled Minor

Mottled Pug

Netted Pug

Oak Hook-tip

Orange Footman

Pale Tussock

Poplar Grey

Purple Bar

Red-green Carpet

Red Twin-spot Carpet

Rustic Shoulder-knot

Sandy Carpet

Scorched Carpet

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Silver-ground Carpet

Silver-Y

Small Fan-foot

Small Square-spot

Small Waved Umber

Snout

Spectacle

Treble Lines

V-Pug

Waved Umber

White Ermine 

White-spotted Pug

Willow Beauty

Yellow-barred Brindle

 

Micro Moths

Aethes smeathmanniana

Agapeta hamana

Agonopterix alstromeriana

Agonopterix arenella

Aphomia sociella

Argyresthia trifasciata

Aspilapteryx tringipennella

Blastobasis lacticolella

Cauchas fibulella (Swept from Germander Speedwell)

Celypha lacunana

Cochylimorpha straminea

Cochylis atricapitana

Coleophora sp

Crambus lathoniellus 

Depressaria radiella 

Dichrorampha alpinana

Elachista argentella

Endrosis sarcitrella

Epiblema cirsiana/sticticana

Epiphyas postvittana

Esperia sulphurella

Evergestis forficalis

Glyphipterix simpliciella

Hedya pruniana

Homoeosoma sinuella 

Monopis crocicapitella

Monopis laevigella

Monopis weaverella

Nemapogon cloacella

Nematopogon swammerdamella

Nematopogon schwarziellus

Notocelia cynosbatella 

Notocelia trimaculana

Plutella xylostella 

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 

Scrobipalpa costella

Scrobipalpa sp - to be gen det

Scoparia ambigualis

Scoparia pyralella 

Syndemis musculana

Tinea semifulvella

Udea olivalis

Lime-speck Pug

Blood-vein f.nigra

 

Aethes smeathmanniana

Cochylis atricapitana

Nemapogon cloacella

Monopis crocicapitella

Cochylis sp

Notocelia trimaculana

Oak Hook-tip

Scrobipalpa costella

Tinea semifulvella

Scrobipalpa sp