Saturday, 14 May 2022

Clear moon-lit nights

Never the best conditions when the biggest and brightest torch is beaming down on you from up above, and so catches have slowed a bit despite fairly mild low teen minimum temperatures.

I trapped on Tuesday at home and Wednesday at work last week as they were the most favourable of nights, and was rewarded with a few new species for the year.
 
The works trap held a dismal 7 moths, really bad and maybe due to too much light pollution in the centre of Bishop's Stortford?
 
During the daytime, the cemetery lawns are crawling with Glyphipterix fuscoviridella, easily into the 100's
 
At home it wasn't much better, but a trickle of new furry faces were jotted down, potted up and photographed.
 
Best moth was a first confirmed Epiblema scutulana for me, in my Grapholita funebrana lure trap. I think i've seen this species before in my early days, but never confirmed it's identity. 
I was surprised at it's size, and semed bigger than cirsiana/stictiana species from memory. 
 

Moth garden list for 2022 stands at 179 species

10/05/22 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
Bright-line Brown-eye 1 [NFY]
Peppered Moth 1 [NFG]
Common Pug 3
Garden Carpet 2
Puss Moth 1
Red Twin-spot Carpet 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 3
White Ermine 1
Yellow-barred Brindle 3

Micro Moths

Agonopterix arenella 1 [NFY]
Epiblema scutulana 1 [NFG] (To FUN Lure)
Phyllonorycter leucographella 1 [NFG]
Cacoecimorpha pronubana 1
Epiphyas postvittana 3
Platyedra subcinera 1
Plutella xyllostella 1
 
10/05/22 - Work - Bishop's Stortford - East Hertfordshire - Actinic Trap
 
Macro Moths
 
Buff Footman (Caterpillar)
Garden Carpet 1 
Pale Mottled Willow 5
Shears 1

Micro Moths

Glyphipterix fuscoviridella 100+ (Daytime)
 
Buff Footman Caterpillar

Glyphipterix fuscoviridella

Shears

Bright-line Brown-eye

Common Marbled Carpet

Epiblema scutulana

Peppered Moth