Lindfield Moth Diary - February ’08

e-mail: moths@littlesnails.com

Friday 29 February 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast and a bit damp, clearing later becoming a little frosty, still.

Day 242… Almost a "wow" night, 47 moths in total in and around the trap, that’s the biggest catch since 03 October last year. Two firsts for the year too; an Early Grey and a pair of Twin-spotted Quakers, also the first Dotted Border for some time. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

2 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.
1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.

Noctuidae

22 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
12 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
2 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
6 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
1 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
1 The Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Thursday 28 February 2008

Weather: Cold, clear to start, overcast and a little milder by dawn, still.

Day 241… Not much to report, similar yesterday’s catch but with more Small Quakers. The conditions weren’t ideal but I shouldn’t complain, I would have given my eye teeth for a catch like this a fortnight ago.

I think the time has come to start a campaign and, as you can see, I have. My next move is to break into the Houses of Parliament and hold a roof-top protest, remaining there until such time as "Porter’s Vernaculars" have been universally adopted. The really irritating thing is, the way I have constructed this web-site means that I have a lot of work to do before I can use them in the main species list - but rest assured I will. Thank you.

The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

1 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.

Noctuidae

14 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
3 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta Hufn.
2 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.

Wednesday 27 February 2008

Weather: Cold, clear, very windy at first but dying down later and becoming frosty.

Day 240… I wouldn’t have been surprised to find the trap completely empty this morning, given the entirely unhelpful conditions. The fact that Loobi and I found a moderate selection of the usual suspects was fairly pleasing, nothing at all remarkable, but the catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

6 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
3 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta Hufn.
1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.

Tuesday 26 February 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast, persistent rain after midnight, very windy.

Day 239… I wouldn't have been too surprised if I found the trap to have been blown away during the night. It wasn’t, but it was pretty sodden. Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a single moth to be found on the outside or around the trap on inspection this morning. What was inside was more or less a repeat performance of yesterdays catch (minus micros) and was as follows:

Geometridae

1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
1 Small Brindled Beauty Apocheima hispidaria D. & S.
1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.
1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.

Noctuidae

8 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
8 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
2 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta Hufn.
1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
1 Dark Chestnut Conistra ligula Esp.

Monday 25 February 2008

Weather: Mild and wet to start, clearing, becoming frosty and foggy later, still.

Day 238… A strange night, it started very promisingly, mild and damp with a lot of moths arriving at the trap relatively early on, but by 11 o’clock the sky had cleared and the temperature had dropped like a stone. I can only guess that everything that was in the trap in the morning was already there by this point.

I had the pleasure of Lucas’s company this morning, his enthusiasm renewed, no doubt, by the prospect of something more than a "micro" or two. It was another good catch, nothing new but a couple of firsts for the year: an Oak Beauty and two Clouded Drab. The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

1 Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.

Tortricidae

1 Tortricodes alternella D. & S.

Pterophoridae

1 Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

2 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
1 Small Brindled Beauty Apocheima hispidaria D. & S.
2 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.
1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.

Noctuidae

5 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
9 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
2 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta Hufn.
2 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
1 Dark Chestnut Conistra ligula Esp.

Sunday 24 February 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast at first clearing later on, breezy.

Day 237… This is becoming like proper moth-trapping, none of that hit and miss wintery stuff when you’re not sure whether there’ll be anything in the trap in the morning. Now it’s more a case of lots of moths and at least one on every bit of egg-tray with others dotted around the inside (and outside) of the trap, necessitating the use of my notebook and not just relying on memory.

One new species this morning: a Dark Chestnut, at least I’m pretty convinced it is (new, that is, as well as being a Dark Chestnut), it’s the first time I've been able to do a side by side comparison with a (normal) Chestnut (see photo below). Interestingly, not a single Common Quaker yesterday and then seven lovely fresh ones this morning. The catch was as follows:

Pterophoridae

1 Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
1 Small Brindled Beauty Apocheima hispidaria D. & S.
1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

4 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
7 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
1 The Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
1 Dark Chestnut Conistra ligula Esp.

Chestnut (left) & Dark Chestnut

Saturday 23 February 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast, occasional fine drizzle, moderately windy.

Day 236… Now, this is more like it! Not just a few, but twelve, yes twelve, moths in the trap this morning. Not just that either, but nine different species including four we’ve not seen before. Two tortricids; Acleris literana or Lichen Button, a moth which seems to take its styling cues from the Merveille du Jour and an Acleris notana or Rusty Birch Button. As well as these two, there was a Yellow Horned - a fine looking moth in the Lutestring mould and a Small Brindled Beauty, this one wasn’t actually in the trap but on the nearby fence. We also had a Bright-line Brown-eye which according to the books shouldn’t be showing itself ’til May (we did get a couple in April last year though).

One of the gratifying (and curious) aspects of this catch is the variety of habitats in which these moths should normally be found, the Yellow Horned for instance is to be found in Birch woodland or Birch scrub on heath and moorland whereas the Small Brindled Beauty and Acleris literana are described as preferring mature Oak woodland - neither of which are to be found in this vicinity. Oh, and by the way, the trap this morning also contained the year’s first Caddis and also what looked suspiciously like an Ophion leteus wasp (surely the wrong time of year for this?) The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

1 Acleris notana Donovan
1 Acleris literana Linn.

Thyatiridae

1 Yellow Horned Achlya flavicornis Linn.

Geometridae

1 Small Brindled Beauty Apocheima hispidaria D. & S.
1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

1 Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea Linn.
3 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
1 The Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Acleris notana Acleris literana
Achlya flavicornis

Yellow Horned Small Brindled Beauty

Friday 22 February 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast, windy.

Day 235… It never seems to be quite perfect, yes it was lovely and mild but it was also just a little too windy. Never mind eh? It was much, much better than it’s been of late so I’m not complaining and yes, there were moths in the trap, nothing too exciting but moths nonetheless. I also snared two moths on the kitchen window yesterday evening; a Common Flat-body and a March Tubic. The catch (including arrivals at the window) was as follows:

Oecophoridae

2 Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
1 Diurnea fagella D. & S.

Tortricidae

1 Tortricodes alternella D. & S.

Noctuidae

2 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Thursday 21 February 2008

Weather: Cold, thin cloud cover, breezy.

Day 234… The first frost free night since the dawn of time and lo and behold, another 6g of CO2 up the Swanee.

Sunday 17 - Wednesday 20 February 2008

Cold, clear and very frosty at night, no point whatsoever - mind you I did find a Winter Shade on the kitchen ceiling on Sunday evening (which has gone into the database, of course).

Saturday 16 February 2008

Weather: Cold, overcast at first, clearing and becoming very frosty, light breeze.

Day 233… If I had known it was going to get as cold as it did I wouldn’t have bothered, but I did and and wasted a night’s worth of electricity. Hmm… maybe I should start thinking about carbon offsetting…? a 40W bulb running for about 14 hours - that’s 0.56 kWh which (apparently) equates to about 6 grams of CO2 per night - food for thought.

Friday 15 February 2008

Weather: Cold, partial thin cloud, breezy.

Day 232… Ahh… that’s better, moths again - at last! OK, so not many but better than nothing and the first Hebrew Character of the year too. The forecast for the next few days is back to sunny days and frosty nights, oh well, might see a butterfly though. The catch was as follows:

Noctuidae

1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.

Thursday 14 February 2008

Weather: Cold, partial thin cloud, breezy.

Day 231… The prospect of a little cloud and no frost was more than enough of a spur to get the trap back into action. Driving back last night from the Sussex Moth Group meeting last night I saw at least half a dozen moths caught in the car’s headlights so it came as a bit of a disappointment to find an empty trap in the morning… Oh Well.

Tuesday 12 - Wednesday 13 February 2008

The warm spring-like days that we’re are enjoying at the moment will persist in being followed by very cold and frosty nights. Putting the trap out would be nothing more than a waste of electricity. Irritatingly, I haven’t seen any butterflies either, a Red Admiral back on January 25 is the only one so far…

Monday 11 February 2008

Weather: Frosty, clear, still.

Day 230… It’s hard to complain about this weather, it being so glorious during the daytime, it’s just that the nights are so cold more or less all moth-life remains inactive. Because of this and based on the experience of the past couple of nights I decided not to bother with the trap last night until, that is, Jo came in from the garden at about 6 o’ clock yesterday evening and casually quipped "there’s a moth on the door outside". Out like a flash went I, torch in hand, to find an Early Moth. Apathy dispelled, I set the trap up and switched it on only to find it completely empty in the morning. The catch (if you can call it that) was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Early Moth Theria primaria Haw.

Early Moth

Sunday 10 February 2008

Weather: Frosty, clear, still.

Day 229… No surprises (or excitement) here. The catch was as follows:

Noctuidae

1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Saturday 09 February 2008

Weather: Frost, clear, still.

Day 228… Considering the conditions, I think I would describe last night’s showing a success. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Geometridae

1 Spring Usher Agriopis leucophaearia D. & S.

Noctuidae

1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Friday 08 February 2008

Weather: Very mild to start, becoming foggy then clearing to giving a hard frost, still.

Day 227… "The Day (night) of the Tortricids…?" Well, it’s difficult to know quite where to start. After a sunny day the sky clouded over and as it got dark it remained remarkably mild. It didn’t take long after I put the trap out for moths to start arriving. During the course of the evening I spotted two likely tortricids of some description perched on the outside of the trap so I potted them up for closer examination. The first to get snaffled was a Rhomboid Button (Tortrix) - Acleris rhombana, the second though, looks very much like Acleris logiana or Grey Birch Button which as far as I’m aware has only previously been recorded in Sussex by Sam B. at Warnham LNR.

In the trap this morning, was a Light-brown Apple Moth, which means that, with the exception of January, we’ve had at least one in the trap in every month of the year, I suspect that given kinder weather in January we’d have seen one then too. Last nights catch was the best since November which, frankly, is really rather exciting. The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

1 Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.

Tortricidae

1 Acleris logiana Cl.
1 Acleris rhombana D. & S.
1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Geometridae

1 Spring Usher Agriopis leucophaearia D. & S.
1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Acleris logiana Acleris rhombana

Thursday 07 February 2008

Weather: Cold and frosty, clear, light wind.

Day 226… Oh dear, one (very small) step forward and another one back. Not a sausage to be seen.

Wednesday 06 February 2008

Weather: Mild, heavy rain for first half of night, very windy.

Day 225… Another unpromisingly windy night that yielded a small but reasonable variety of species. The outlook is for calmer, clearer and milder conditions for the next few days so let’s see what shows up. The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

1 Diurnea fagella D. & S.

Tortricidae

2 Tortricodes alternella D. & S.

Noctuidae

1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Tuesday 05 February 2008

Weather: Mild, steady rain from about 23:00 onwards, very windy.

Day 224… Ah ha, this is a little more promising, not exactly earth shattering but it’ll do for the time being. First March Moth of the year too. Oh, and by the way, I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that Messrs. Denis & Schiffermüller must have had a bit of a thing about the more wintery species…? The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

1 Diurnea fagella D. & S.

Geometridae

1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Noctuidae

1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.

Monday 04 February 2008

Weather: Mild to start off, rain followed by clear skies, icy.

Day 223… No sign of things picking up yet…

Tortricidae

1 Tortricodes alternella D. & S.

Sunday 03 February 2008

Weather: Cold, mostly clear, windy.

Day 222… Double Nelson’s. Another night of not very much. The outlook though, is for milder but windy weather so things might perk up a little in the coming days, fingers crossed.

Geometridae

1 Pale Brindled Beauty Apocheima pilosaria D. & S.

Saturday 02 February 2008

Weather: Cold and frosty, clear, light wind.

Day 221… Not a dicky bird (or any moths, for that matter), I think I can spot a pattern beginning to develop.

Friday 01 February 2008

Weather: Cold, partly cloudy to start, clear later.

Day 220… Cold and windy - let’s just say things were "not exactly ideal".

Tortricidae

1 Tortricodes alternella D. & S.