A big end of May catch & 3 new garden moths!

A absolutely incredible catch of moths on Wednesday night after a warm day, thick cloud rolled in and the temperature did not drop below 14 degrees all night. At midnight it was still 16c, and so the moths were back.

Still not huge numbers of anything, but the diversity always astounds me, with 69 species noted.

 

Before the night kicked off and well before dark, my boy spotted a moth on the french door, I ran over and saw that it was a large green Coleophora species (meaning that it was either trifoli or amethystinella) jumping back for a pot and under a hand lens it was confirmed as a garden first Coleophora amethystinella, with it's distinct orange eye coupled with orange eyelashes, superb! He now has 2 moths to his name in the garden that only he has found (Feathered Ranunculus being the other one). 

 

Dusk netting was hard work and I had to really be patient. Just 8 moths of 5 species was all I could muster over the hour, but two were new for the year which was nice.

 

of the 69 species, 18 were new for the year, and 3 of them were new records for the garden!

 

An overdue Paraswammerdamia caesiella was the 2nd, I get the copper-tinged pyrella annually in small numbers but it was nice to record another species from the family.

 

The best moth of the night was the rare and tiny Tinagma ocnerostomella, with it's fairly plain grey speckled wings and it's distinct 'Terminator' eye. The eye proved very hard to get a photograph of, and the moth was a nightmare itself to calm down, then I lost it! with just a pot photo gah.

 

The next night (last night) the trap was on again, and I couldn't believe it when I saw that it had came back! and then there was another, and 2 more. So I ended up with 4 over 2 nights. There is only one previous record in Cambs, although in neighbouring Suffolk, it is regular on the Brecks. 

 

On the macro front, a Minor was dissected as Rufous which is new for my garden, and a rarely seen Lychnis was very pleasing for here.

 

Best looking moth of the night went to the striking Recurvaria leucatella. 

 

After all that excitement, I needed a rest and postponed a field trip because of bad wind on Thursday night.

 

The current weather is warm and humid, perfect for some more new moths. 

 

Moth garden list for 2025 stands at 254 species

28/05/25 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

Macro Moths

Cabbage Moth 1 [NFY]    
Heart & Club 1 [NFY]    
Lychnis 1 [NFY]    
Riband Wave 1 [NFY]    
Rufous Minor 1 [NFG]    
Bright-line Brown-eye 1    
Brimstone Moth 2    
Buff-tip 1    
Cinnabar 1    
Clouded Silver 4    
Common Carpet 2    
Common Swift 5    
Common Wainscot 1    
Elephant Hawk-moth 2    
Flame Shoulder 1    
Garden Carpet 1    
Green Carpet 1    
Green Pug 2    
Heart & Dart 1    
Light Brocade 2    
Large Nutmeg 1    
Light Emerald 2    
Marbled Minor 2    
Mottled Pug 1    
Pale Mottled Willow 1    
Pebble Hook-tip 1    
Pebble Prominent 1    
Peppered Moth 1    
Poplar Grey 1    
Rustic Shoulder-knot 1    
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1    
Spectacle 1    
Small Elephant Hawk-moth 1    
Treble-bar 1    
Turnip Moth 3    
Waved Umber 1    
White-point 2    
Willow Beauty 3    

Micro Moths

Acompsia cinerella 1 [NFY]    
Argyresthia trifasciata 2 [NFY]    
Cedestis subfasciella 1 [NFY]    
Coleophora amethystinella 1 [NFG]    
Ephestia sp 1 [NFY]    
Eucosma cana 1 [NFY]    
Grapholita janthinana 1 [NFY] (netted)   
Grapholita tenebrosana 1 [NFY] (netted)    
Ostrinia nubilalis 1 [NFY]    
Pandemis cerasana 1 [NFY]     
Recurvaria leucatella 1 [NFY]    
Swammerdamia caesiella 1 [NFG]    
Tinagma ocnerostomella 1 [NFG]    
Agapeta hamana 1    
Alucita hexadactyla 1    
Anania hortulata 1    
Anthophila fabriciana 3 (netted)    
Aphomia sociella 3    
Argyresthia cupressella 2    
Bryotropha basaltinella 1 (netted)     
Caloptilia cuculipennella 1    
Coleophora sp 1    
Crambus lathoniellus 2    
Epiphyas postvittana 4    
Homoeosoma sinuella 1    
Mompha subbistrigella 2 (netted)    
Monopis crocicapitella 2    
Notocelia trimaculana 1    
Platyedra subcinerea 1    
Paraswammerdamia caesiella 1    
Plutella xylostella 1    

Riband Wave

Tinagma ocnerostomella

Acompsia cinerella

Cabbage Moth

Cedestis subfasciella

Coleophora amethystinella

Ephestia sp

Eucosma cana

Grapholita janthinana

Grapholita tenebrosana

Heart & Club

Lychnis

Ostrinia nubilalis

Recurvaria leucatella