So warm, so humid

Well what a heatwave we are experiencing currently.

After those warm two weeks at the end of May, it wasn't long before we were back into even higher temperatures here in the east.

Friday was another warm day in excess of 31 degrees here, and with nighttime lows of 18.3c the trap was pretty busy with species and numbers, with over 20 Leopard Moths once more, and 40+ Common Footman.

The micros have really excelled here, with huge variety.

 

During the daytime several Red-belted and Currant Clearwings came to different lures, I haven't gone all out with lures this year, favouring trying unusual lures rather than the standard clearwing ones.

I've still got TAB and SAL out though, for Dusky and Sallow Clearwing.

 

Back to the overnight catch and wowzers, it was pretty mental.

 

I'll list the highlights briefly below.

 

Small Marbled - A garden first and one I've not seen for 15 years! Back in 2011 I took the 2nd & 3rd Hertfordshire county records. How I managed to find it I do not know. I went through my trap at 3:30, back to bed at 4am and then up again at 6:30, sweeping the dead flies from the patio I saw a tiny pale moth and blow me down, a little Small Marbled!

 

Coleophora albidella/anatipennella - Another garden first species, one of two that I could narrow it down to, a beautiful white Coleophora species that actually behaved itself and was quite photogenic.

 

Nemapogon ruricolella - An uncommon visitor here, usually to the Clearwing lures, but this alighted at my actinic trap. A fairly distinct moth, separated from variatella by it's ochreous ground colour and buff head (white in variatella) it is also a little bigger than the similar cloacella. 

 

Coleophora violacea - After a spate of this species to pheremone lures in 2022, I saw none until Thursday night when out of the blue, I netted one. A distinct dark green species with black antennae that feature white tips. 

 

A fantastic time to be recording moths, but It's blooming tiring! 

 

Moth garden list for 2026 stands at 448 species 

 

18/06/26 - Back Garden - Fordham - East Cambridgeshire - Actinic Trap

 

Macro Moths

Brown-tail 1 [NFY]
Dun-bar 1 [NFY]
Scalloped Oak 1 [NFY]
Small Marbled 1 [NFG]
Currant Clearwing 2 (To TIP lure)
Red-belted Clearwing 4 (1 to SAL & 3 to LOR lure)

Micro Moths

Acleris forsskaleana 1 [NFY]
Acrobasis repandana 1 [NFY]
Catoptria pinella 1 [NFY]
Coleophora albidella/anatipennella 1 [NFY]
Coleophora vestianella 1 [NFY]
Coleophora violacea 1 [NFY] (netted)
Cydia nigricana 2 [NFY] (netted)
Ectoedemia hannoverella/turbidella 1 [NFY]
Lozotaeniodes formosana 2 [NFY]
Nemapogon ruricolella 1 [NFY]
Oegoconia sp 2 [NFY]
Paraswammerdamia nebulella 1 [NFY]
Tinea columbariella 2 [NFY]
Zeiraphera isertana 1 [NFY]

 

Acleris forsskaleana

Acrobasis repandana

Brown-tail

Coleophora albidella/anatipennella

Coleophora vestianella

Dun-bar

Ectoedemia hannoverella/turbidella

Lozotaeniodes formosana

Nemapogon ruricolella

Small Marbled

Zeiraphera isertana