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Monday 30 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mainly clear, light breeze.

Day 340… There was a slightly cooler and fresher feel to the night last night and, probably as a consequence of this, we didn’t have quite as many moths in the trap this morning. We did however get another new species, a Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix and we also caught our first Single-dotted Wave of the year too. (The Four-spotted Obscure could quite possibly be another species of Oegoconia and can really only be definitely identified by the "usual means" but quadripuncta does seem the most likely to me.) The catch was as follows:

Gelechiidae

• 1 Four-spotted Obscure Oegoconia quadripuncta Hufn.

Tortricidae

• 1 Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana D. & S.
• 1 Large Ivy Twist Lozotaenia forsterana Fabr.
• 1 Light Grey Tortrix Cnephasia incertana Treit.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.

Pyralidae

• 6 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 3 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.
• 2 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata Hufn.
• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Pine Carpet Thera firmata Hb.
• 1 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 1 Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata Linn.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Notodontidae

• 1 Buff-tip Phalera bucephala Linn.

Noctuidae

• 6 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 10 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 3 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Dark/Grey Dagger Acronicta tridens/psi D. & S./Linn.
• 1 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 2 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.

Four-spotted Obscure Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix

Single-dotted Wave

Sunday 29 June 2008

Weather: Warm, partly cloudy, breezy.

Day 339… Another warm night and another busy night too. A new species for the list too; a Mottled Beauty, having spent god only knows how long examining each and every Willow Beauty we’ve caught in the hope that it might just be something else, finally we get one that is! We also had another Barred Straw (a little worse for wear but somewhat more respectable than the last sorry specimen we saw) and this time it allowed itself to be photographed. At last we caught our first Buff-tip of the year (in Lindfield), nearly two months later than last year’s first record. Other notables were a Buff Arches and a Double-striped Tabby also, our Leopard Moth returned for the third night on the trot but it is, by now, looking terribly bedraggled and tatty. The catch was as follows:

Cossidae

• 1 Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina Linn.

Tortricidae

• 1 Variegated Golden Tortrix Archips xylosteana Linn.
• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 10 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 2 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Double-striped Tabby Orthopygia glaucinalis Linn.
• 1 Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis Linn.

Thyatiridae

• 1 Buff Arches Habrosyne pyritoides Hufn.

Geometridae

• 1 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata Haw.
• 2 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Barred Straw Eulithis pyraliata D. & S.
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Pine Carpet Thera firmata Hb.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 2 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 2 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 2 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 2 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 1 Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata Linn.
• 1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Mottled Beauty Alcis repandata Linn.

Notodontidae

• 3 Buff-tip Phalera bucephala Linn.

Noctuidae

• 4 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 19 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 2 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 True Lover’s Knot Lycophotia porphyrea D. & S.
• 1 Shoulder-striped Wainscot Mythimna comma Linn.
• 1 Dark/Grey Dagger Acronicta tridens/psi D. & S./Linn.
• 2 Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha Hufn.
• 2 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 1 Spectacle Abrostola tripartita Hufn.
• 2 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Barred Straw Mottled Beauty

Saturday 28 June 2008

Weather: Warm, partly cloudy, very windy at first becoming calmer later.

Day 338… We had another of those terrifying clouds of moths scattering from the trap when we approached it this morning, let’s just hope there wasn’t anything too noteworthy among them. I am happy to be able to say though, that there was more enough to deal with left in the trap. There were a couple of "micros" that were new, although one of them, what I think might be a Skin Moth looks like one we had last November but at the time I didn’t even get close to identifying it. The other is, I think, a White Cloaked Shoot, it fits the description almost but not quite entirely… We also had only our second ever Dot Moth and Small Fan-foot and the first Pine Carpet of the year too. The catch was as follows:

Cossidae

• 1 Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina Linn.

Tineidae

• 1 Skin Moth Monopis laevigella D. & S.

Tortricidae

• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 1 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 1 Light Grey Tortrix Cnephasia incertana Treit.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Triangle-marked Roller Ancylis achatana D. & S.
• 1 White Cloaked Shoot Gypsonoma sociana Haw.
• 3 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 14 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 2 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus Zinc.
• 1 Satin Grass-veneer Crambus perlella Scop.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 2 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Blotched Emerald Comibaena bajularia D. & S.
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Pine Carpet Thera firmata Hb.
• 1 Spruce Carpet Thera britannica Turn.
• 1 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 1 Mottled Pug Eupithecia exiguata Hb.
• 1 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 1 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 1 Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata Linn.
• 3 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Arctiidae

• 1 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 4 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 24 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 3 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 5 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 2 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Dot Moth Melanchra persicariae Linn.
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea Linn.
• 1 Shoulder-striped Wainscot Mythimna comma Linn.
• 1 Sycamore Acronicta aceris Linn.
• 2 Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha Hufn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 1 Uncertain Hoplodrina alsines Brahm
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.
• 1 Snout Hypena proboscidalis Linn.
• 1 Small Fan-foot Herminia grisealis D. & S.

Skin Moth White Cloaked Shoot

Dot Moth

Friday 27 June 2008

Weather: Warm, partly cloudy, occasional light showers, very windy at first becoming calmer later.

Day 338… Ta-dah! In spite of the wind, we had not only a good number and variety of moths we had two (or maybe three) entirely new species too. The first and certainly the most spectacular was a Leopard Moth (not only a new species, but a new family for the list too), we also had Varied Coronet and a Light Grey Tortrix, yes I know the Cnephasias are supposedly only differentiable with genital dissection but this one does look very much the part. We also had another Cnephasia Sp. but this one really did look like one of those indistinguishable types. The catch was as follows:

Cossidae

• 1 Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina Linn.

Tortricidae

• 1 Cnephasia Sp.
• 1 Light Grey Tortrix Cnephasia incertana Treit.
• 2 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 6 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 3 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Satin Grass-veneer Crambus perlella Scop. f. warringtonallus Stain.
• 3 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata Hb.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 2 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 5 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 25 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 4 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 4 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea Linn.
• 1 Varied Coronet Hadena compta D. & S.
• 1 Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura Hb.
• 1 Shoulder-striped Wainscot Mythimna comma Linn.
• 2 Sycamore Acronicta aceris Linn.
• 1 Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha Hufn.
• 2 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.
• 2 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Leopard Moth Light Grey Tortrix

Varied Coronet

Thursday 26 June 2008

Weather: Warm, cloudy at first then clearing, breezy.

Day 337… Another warm night and another pretty good selection of species for Loobi and I to examine this morning. Remarkably we finally caught one of the species we had up until now only seen on holiday in Devon last August, a Small Yellow Wave, my money was on that honour going to a Magpie, maybe that’ll be next, at least I can get rid of one of those orange asterisks. Other interesting species (and firsts for the year) this morning were a Small Dusty Wave, Blood-vein and also a Riband Wave (Typical form) which got away before I could photograph it, as did yet another Barred Yellow. This was über frustrating as the thing was potted and I had it nicely settled for its photo when an ill-timed gust of wind blew it into the next door neighbour’s garden. Below is also a photograph of what I think is an Olethreutinae Sp. (Olethreutinid… Olethreutid…?) of some sort which Loobi captured in the garden yesterday afternoon. I have no idea what it is other than a vague feeling that it might be a Dichrorampha gueneeana but that really is wild speculation. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 2 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.

Pyralidae

• 3 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 3 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Blood-vein Timandra comae Schmidt
• 1 Small Dusty Wave Idaea seriata Schr.
• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata Linn.
• 2 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Barred Yellow Cidaria fulvata Forst.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Small Yellow Wave Hydrelia flammeolaria Hufn.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 5 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 13 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 2 Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura Hb.
• 1 Uncertain Hoplodrina alsines Brahm
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.
• 1 Snout Hypena proboscidalis Linn.

Olethreutinae Sp? Blood-vein

Small Dusty Wave Small Yellow Wave

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Weather: Warm, mostly overcast, light winds.

Day 336… A fine and mild night brought pretty wide selection of moths to the trap again, nothing new but some interesting species nevertheless. Our first Yellow Shell of the year and a Wormwood Pug. We also had what at first I thought was an interesting pyralid of some sort and after spending too much time persuading it to sit nicely to have its photo taken I examined the resulting photo only to discover it was just a very small female Bee Moth, only about half the size of the other two examples we had in the trap. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 2 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 2 Yellow Oak Button Aleimma loeflingiana Linn.
• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 4 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 2 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 3 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.
• 3 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 White Plume Moth Pterophorus pentadactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 2 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata Haw.
• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Yellow Shell Camptogramma bilineata Linn.
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Wormwood Pug Eupithecia absinthiata Cl.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria Linn.
• 1 Peppered Moth Biston betularia Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Arctiidae

• 2 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 6 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 20 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 3 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.

Tiny Bee Moth Yellow Shell

Wormwood Pug

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mainly clear, light wind.

Day 336… A very similar night to the previous one but without the wind. Not much of a catch to show for it either, the only points of note were the numbers of Heart and Dart and the appearance of another False Cocoa Moth. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Large Ivy Twist Lozotaenia forsterana Fabr.

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 False Cocoa Moth Ephestia parasitella Stdgr.

Geometridae

• 1 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata Linn.
• 1 Peppered Moth Biston betularia Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 7 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 20 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Monday 23 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mainly clear, fairly windy.

Day 335… A little cooler and much less humid last night but we still had a reasonably good catch to report. Nothing new but we did get the largest Large Fruit-tree Tortrix I’ve ever seen and a lovely fresh True Lover’s Knot. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana Scop.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 2 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis Linn.
• 2 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 2 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 2 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 2 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.

Noctuidae

• 6 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 14 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 4 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 True Lover’s Knot Lycophotia porphyrea D. & S.
• 1 Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura Hb.
• 1 Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha Hufn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 1 Burnished Brass Diachrysia chrysitis Linn.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Large Fruit-tree Tortrix True Lover’s Knot

Sunday 22 June 2008

Weather: Warm, overcast and humid, light winds at first becoming stronger.

Day 334… Last night started out with conditions as close to moth perfection as can be imagined, by dawn though, things had got a little too windy and by the time Loobi and I got out to the trap the wind had really picked up and made things very difficult with moths being blown all over the place. Despite all this we still recorded a pretty good catch with two new species the identifications of which are somewhat uncertain, which, if you’ll excuse the pun (lame, I know…) leads me on to what I think is our first Uncertain of the year (see below). I’ve probably got the Hoplodrinas all wrong and seeing this one only serves to underline the fact, ho hum. The first of our new species was entirely unknown to me but after looking it up and working on the assumption it must have been an Epiblemma of some sort I concluded it was probably a Bramble Shoot Moth, but I have now spent a little more time on it and I’m pretty sure now that it’s a Triangle-marked Roller. The other new species is I think, a Triple-blotched Bell. The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

• 2 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stain.

Tortricidae

• 1 Variegated Golden Tortrix Archips xylosteana Linn.
• 1 Cnephasia Sp. Cnephasia Sp.
• 7 Yellow Oak Button Aleimma loeflingiana Linn.
• 1 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Triangle-marked Roller Ancylis achatana D. & S.
• 1 Triple-blotched Bell Epiblema trimaculana Haw.
• 1 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 7 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 2 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis Linn.
• 1 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 5 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 2 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 4 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Scalloped Oak Crocallis elinguaria Linn.
• 1 Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.
• 1 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Noctuidae

• 4 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 14 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 3 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Shoulder-striped Wainscot Mythimna comma Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Uncertain Hoplodrina alsines Brahm
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Mottled Rustic Caradrina morpheus Hufn.
• 2 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 2 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.
• 3 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Triangle-marked Roller Triple-blotched Bell

Meal Moth Shoulder-striped Wainscot

Uncertain

Saturday 21 June 2008

Weather: Very mild, overcast steady light rain, light wind.

Day 333… Good news and bad news: good news, we had a Barred Straw again last night, and I got a photo of it too, and the bad news… it hadn’t actually made it as far as the trap - Loobi found it floating upside down in the pond being nibbled by Pond Skaters. Let’s just hope there are more around here and that poor unfortunate beast wasn’t the only one. Other than that, it was a pretty good night’s catch, the highlights being a Sycamore, a Smoky Wainscot and a Small Fan-foot which I have to confess was actually found by Jo on the wall of the upstairs landing this morning and not actually in the trap, oh, and a lovely fresh Elephant Hawkmoth too. Lastly, and maybe this is a good sign, we had the year’s largest number of Heart and Dart today as well - so maybe they haven’t peaked yet. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius

Pyralidae

• 6 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 2 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Barred Straw Eulithis pyraliata D. & S.
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 3 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 2 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.
• 3 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Sphingidae

• 1 Elephant Hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor Linn.

Noctuidae

• 6 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 19 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Smoky Wainscot Mythimna impura Hb.
• 1 Sycamore Acronicta aceris Linn.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.
• 1 Small Fan-foot Herminia grisealis D. & S.

Smoky Wainscot Sycamore

Small Fan-foot

Friday 20 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mostly overcast, windy.

Day 332… Too windy to be a really good night, and so it proved, a relatively humdrum catch was all we had to show for it. One point of interest was three Cypress Carpets, but that probably just underlines the suspicion that I’m relying too heavily on last years records as a guide to what we should be seeing this year. I have yet to find any obvious parallels between this year and last but, statistically, that’s not really surprising I guess, we’ll need a few more years of results before any genuinely reliable patterns emerge. I always despised statistics at school and college, too airy-fairy and lacking any definite results, but looking at these results I’m beginning to see there might just be a point to it all. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 3 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 3 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 3 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata Linn.
• 4 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.

Arctiidae

• 1 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 2 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 9 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.

Thursday 19 June 2008

Weather: Mild, overcast, rain later, windy.

Day 331… If the other night felt like January, yesterday and last night was definitely late October. I’m beginning get the impression that summer ’08 is proving to be a replica of summer ’07, let’s hope I’m wrong eh? Good catch last night, nothing new but there was a nice selection of tortricids and our first True Lover’s Knot of the year, which was sadly, a bit on the worn side and not really worth a photo (we still need a decent one of True Lover’s Knot). While nosing round the garden this morning I was chuffed to find an Emperor Moth caterpillar (2nd instar), strangely, it was on a Hemerocallis leaf, but right next to a small ornamental heather, which I guess is what it’s feeding on. It’s good to know that the moths we reared last year have bred succesfully (I presume it’s one of their progeny but I suppose it could be from wild stock). The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

• 2 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stain.

Tortricidae

• 2 Variegated Golden Tortrix Archips xylosteana Linn.
• 1 Large Ivy Twist Lozotaenia forsterana Fabr.
• 1 Yellow Oak Button Aleimma loeflingiana Linn.
• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Bramble Shoot Moth Epiblema uddmanniana Linn.

Pyralidae

• 3 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 2 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata Hb.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 2 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.

Noctuidae

• 2 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 11 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 4 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 3 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 True Lover’s Knot Lycophotia porphyrea D. & S.
• 1 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Common Wainscot Mythimna pallensm Linn.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 2 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 7 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Large Ivy Twist Bramble Shoot Moth

Wild Emperor Moth

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Weather: Mild, partially cloudy, fairly windy.

Day 330… A slight improvement in the temperature was offset somewhat by the windiness, nevertheless we still had a reasonable catch and all would have been just tickety-boo had our first ever Barred Straw not escaped before we got a chance to photograph it. Other than that frustration we also had two Burnished Brass and only the second (Lindfield) Large Yellow Underwing of the year. Other notables were a tiny, presumably second brood, Double-striped Pug and not a single Buff Ermine.

New (and exciting) Feature!
The apparent lateness of the Large Yellow Underwings this year and also the markedly smaller numbers of Heart and Dart (strangely, we’ve had 12 of these four nights on the trott now) and Treble Lines amongst others has prompted me to write a script allowing the catches to be presented graphically, these results can be seen by scrolling to the bottom of the individual records pages. By necessity, these graphs have to be quite wide and I’m still debating whether it might be better to have a separate graph for each year (allowing them to be narrower), but for now I think I’ll let things develop as they are. It would appear that there are already some interesting patterns beginning to emerge, from what is admittedly a fairly small data set (look for instance at the plot for Heart and Dart - have we seen this year’s peak?). I do have to admit that the graphs are not particularly illuminating as far as some of the less frequent species are concerned but they still give an instant indication of flight times.

You might also notice if you look to the right, this site has now gone fully "Porter compliant" with the species we’ve recorded being able to be viewed either by their scientific or vernacular names at the click of a button.

The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius

Pyralidae

• 3 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Barred Straw Eulithis pyraliata D. & S.
• 1 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 1 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
• 1 Scorched Wing Plagodis dolabraria Linn.
• 3 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Sphingidae

• 1 Poplar Hawkmoth Laothoe populi Linn.

Noctuidae

• 1 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 12 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 2 Burnished Brass Diachrysia chrysitis Linn.
• 2 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.
• 3 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Large Skipper, yesterday.

Tuesday 17 June 2008

Weather: Cool, partially cloudy, light breeze.

Day 329… When I went out to conduct a late night examination of the various comings and goings I couldn’t help but think I should have been expecting to see Spring Usher and Early Moth with may be the occasional Winter Shade hanging around the trap, the night really did feel more like January than June. Not unreasonably, my expectations for the catch this morning were low. Happily, things weren’t too bad, especially as we caught only our third Scorched Wing and this time it was in pristine condition, unlike the terribly bedraggled and soggy specimen we first caught (the second got away). There was one other interesting moth in the trap and that was what I presume is Inlaid Grass-veneer (first for the year) and it was for that reason I photographed it but when I sat down to confirm its identity I was rather taken by the fact that it seemed to bear a closer resemblance to Marsh Grass-veneer (Crambus uliginosellus) (compare the photo below with the one on UKmoths, "Goater’s" description seems a better fit too) but owing to that species’ apparent scarcity I’m not prepared to stick my neck out… The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.

Pyralidae

• 4 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Inlaid Grass-veneer Crambus pascuella Linn.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla Hb.
• 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Blotched Emerald Comibaena bajularia D. & S.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Scorched Wing Plagodis dolabraria Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 3 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.
• 1 Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae Linn.

Noctuidae

• 1 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 12 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Inlaid Grass-veneer Scorched Wing

Monday 16 June 2008

Weather: Cool, heavy showers, clearing later, light breeze.

Day 328… Same location as the night before for the trap but a much earlier start for me (Loobi was still tucked up in bed when I first went out). It had been a slightly cooler night, probably because of the heavy rain at about 22:00 and so therefore the catch was maybe, a little down on what I might have expected. A Silver-ground Carpet was our first new species for a couple of days, it was a bit worn and I was at first not sure precisely what it was. We also had what I believe to be a Satin Grass-veneer f. warringtonellus (if it’s not that, then I’m not sure what it is) as well as our first Variegated Golden Tortrix (two), Yellow Oak Button and Olive Pearl of the year too. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis corylana Fabr.
• 2 Variegated Golden Tortrix Archips xylosteana Linn.
• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 1 Yellow Oak Button Aleimma loeflingiana Linn.
• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.

Pyralidae

• 2 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus Zinc.
• 1 Satin Grass-veneer Crambus perlella Scop. f. warringtonallus Stain.
• 1 Olive Pearl Udea olivalis D. & S.
• 1 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata D. & S.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 8 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.
• 1 Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae Linn.

Noctuidae

• 1 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 12 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 1 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.

Silver-ground Carpet Satin Grass-veneer f. warringtonallus

Olive Pearl

Sunday 15 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mostly clear, light breeze.

Day 327… A new and much longer extension cable has allowed me to place the trap in what I have always thought would be the optimum location, right by the river and in direct line of sight to a far wider area than before. I'm sure this would have been really succesful had it not been for the fact that it is unshaded from sunrise onwards, which is fine if you’re up with the lark but on a Sunday? Well, when Loobi and I finally got out to the trap we were greeted with a small cloud of moths all making a run for it. Those that were left behind nevertheless proved to be a reasonably interesting selection with our first Brown China-mark and Dark Arches of the year. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 1 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.

Pyralidae

• 2 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Brown China-mark Elophila nymphaeata Linn.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.

Pterophoridae

• 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 3 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 4 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 1 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 12 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha Hufn.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.

Brown China-mark

Saturday 14 June 2008

Weather: Cool, partially cloudy, breezy.

Day 326… This spell of cool damp weather continues and unsurprisingly this resulted in another slightly below par catch. The highlight was a lovely fresh Barred Yellow, the lowlight was that it escaped before we could get a photograph. We did see this species last year but only once and it was a terribly bedraggled specimen, hopefully this one will reappear tonight and stick around for a photo. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 3 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 3 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Barred Yellow Cidaria fulvata Forst.
• 1 Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata Hb.
• 3 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 4 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 5 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Friday 13 June 2008

Weather: Cool, early showers, clearing, light breeze.

Day 325… The air temperature last night was forecast to fall below 10° C and frankly, it felt a bit parky this morning. It came as no surprise that there was no repeat of yesterday’s catch to be found waiting for us in the trap. No new species and no "firsts for the year" either. Oh well. The catch was as follows:

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 1 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 6 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 2 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 8 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Middle-barred Minor Oligia fasciuncula Haw.
• 1 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Thursday 12 June 2008

Weather: Cool, cloudy to start, rain later, breezy.

Day 324… "Night of the Green Moths!" I was in two minds about putting the trap out last night knowing, as I did, that potentially heavy rain was on the way. Thankfully I decided that the best course of action was to let the trap and its contents get a good soaking. Admittedly there were one or two bedraggled moths at the bottom by the morning but, on the whole, I like to think that the moths saw it as a good place to shelter. Lots of moths and lots of different species including three Green… somethings: other than Green Pug, an absolute swarm of Green Oak Tortrix we also had our first Green Silver-lines. Other than the "Greens" we caught two of what I think might be False Cocoa Moth (after putting out a plea for help on the "sussexmoths" forum and getting a very useful reply from Mike Snelling), we had one of these last year but I never managed to identify it. We caught a possible Hawthorn Moth too. The other highlights were a Treble Brown Spot, our first (three) Heart and Club of the year and a Spruce Carpet as well as a larger than usual selection of tortricids. The catch was as follows:

Yponomeutidae

• 1 Hawthorn Moth Scythropia crataegella Fabr.
• 1 Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella Curt.

Oecophoridae

• 1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stain.

Tortricidae

• 1 Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis corylana Fabr.
• 1 Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana Hb.
• 22 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 4 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 3 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Acorn Piercer Pammene fasciana Linn.
• 2 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Hook-streak Grass-veneer Crambus lathoniellus Zinc.
• 1 Marsh Grey Eudonia pallida Curt.
• 2 False Cocoa Moth Ephestia parasitella Stdgr.

Geometridae

• 1 Maiden’s Blush Cyclophora punctaria Linn.
• 1 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata Haw.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 3 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Spruce Carpet Thera britannica Turn.
• 3 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 3 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 1 Clouded Silver Lomographa temerata D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 5 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 3 Heart and Club Agrotis clavis Hufn.
• 18 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 3 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 3 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 2 Pale Mottled Willow Caradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 1 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.
• 1 Green Silver-lines Pseudoips prasinana Warr.
• 2 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Hawthorn Moth False Cocoa Moth

Treble Brown Spot Green Silver-lines

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Weather: Mild, clear, breezy.

Day 323… Funnily enough, last night pulled in far more moths than I would have expected. The air felt noticeably fresher than of late and with the relatively strong breeze that was blowing it all seemed set for a small catch. Nothing new but more firsts for the year: Large Fruit-tree Tortrix, Blotched Emerald, Riband Wave and Spectacle. We also had a rather unusually marked Buff Ermine and our first Common Nettle-tap to actually be caught in the trap. The catch was as follows:

Hepialidae

• 2 Common Swift Hepialus lupulinus Linn.

Choreutidae

• 1 Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana Linn.

Oecophoridae

• 1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stain.

Tortricidae

• 1 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix Archips podana Scop.
• 2 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 2 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 1 Small Magpie Eurrhypara hortulata Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 Blotched Emerald Comibaena bajularia D. & S.
• 1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata f. remutata Linn.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 2 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 2 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 3 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 14 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 2 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Spectacle Abrostola tripartita Hufn.
• 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Blotched Emerald Riband Wave f. remutata

Buff Ermine

Tuesday 10 June 2008

Weather: Warm, mainly clear, light breeze.

Day 322… It seemed like it should have been a really productive night last night but, as it turned out, there wasn’t a great deal in the trap (by recent standards) when Loobi and I went out to see what we’d caught. The highlight, I guess, was the Water Veneer - a really strange little beast, which hopefully we might start to get breeding in our pond. We also had our first Common White Wave of the year. The catch was as follows:

Oecophoridae

• 1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stain.

Tortricidae

• 3 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 2 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius

Pyralidae

• 1 Water Veneer Acentria ephemerella D. & S.

Geometridae

• 1 Red Twin-spot Carpet Xanthorhoe spadicearia D. & S.
• 1 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 2 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 3 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 1 Common White Wave Cabera pusaria Linn.

Arctiidae

• 1 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 2 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 11 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 1 Ingrailed Clay Diarsia mendica Fabr.
• 2 Small Square-spot Diarsia rubi View.
• 2 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Marbled Minor Sp. Oligia Sp.
• 1 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 4 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Water Veneer Common White Wave

Monday 09 June 2008

Weather: Mild, mainly clear, still.

Day 321… Possibly a little cooler and fresher last night and I guess, as a consequence we had a slightly smaller catch than of late, still good though - don’t think I’m complaining. Another new species too, a female Fox Moth, a rather fine looking moth and our third lasiocampid to date. Our first Green Oak Tortrix of the year too. The catch was as follows:

Tortricidae

• 1 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana Linn.
• 4 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 1 Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana Doubleday

Pyralidae

• 1 Marsh Grey Eudonia pallida Curt.

Lasiocampidae

• 1 Fox Moth Macrothylacia rubi Linn.

Geometridae

• 1 May Highflyer Hydriomena impluviata D. & S.
• 1 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 3 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.

Sphingidae

• 1 Lime Hawkmoth Mimas tiliae Linn.

Arctiidae

• 1 Hoary Footman Eilema caniola Hb.
• 3 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 2 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 12 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character Xestia c-nigrum Linn.
• 1 Rustic Hoplodrina blanda D. & S.
• 2 Vine’s Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua D. & S.
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow Paradrina clavipalpis Scop.
• 1 Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga Hufn.
• 4 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis Scop.

Fox Moth Marsh Grey

Sunday 08 June 2008 - "National Moth Night"

Weather: Warm, partially overcast, still.

Day 320… There were we, thinking last night was a good one and then last night came along, even more moths and even more species - on National Moth Night too! We even had three new species for us, a Figure of Eighty (nice and easy to identify) and a Speckled Fanner (yes, really!) and a Blackthorn Argent (these latter two not quite so certain, unsurprisingly). More new species for the year as well, including, Coronet, Snout and Green Pug as well as the Diamond-back Moth like (and close relative) Grey-streaked Smudge.

We all went to the Springwatch Fair at Stanmer Park in Brighton in the morning and in a mercenary attempt to win the Sussex Moth Group’s day flying moth hunt competition, Loobi and I disappeared into the long grass and came out with photos of the requisite three moths. These included one of a Burnet Companion which Lucas spotted and is pictured below. The catch was as follows:

Glyphipterigidae

• 1 Speckled Fanner Glyphipterix thrasonella Scop.

Yponomeutidae

• 1 Blackthorn Argent Argyresthia spinosella Haw.
• 1 Grey-streaked Smudge Plutella porrectella Linn.

Tortricidae

• 1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker
• 3 Common Marble Celypha lacunana D. & S.
• 1 Marbled Orchard Tortrix Hedya nubiferana Retzius
• 2 Codling Moth Cydia pomonella Linn.

Pyralidae

• 1 Garden Grass-veneer Chrysoteuchia culmella Linn.
• 1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis Treit.
• 2 Bee Moth Aphomia sociella Linn.

Thyatiridae

• 1 Figure of Eighty Tethea ocularis Hb.

Geometridae

• 2 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.
• 3 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
• 1 Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata Hb.
• 1 May Highflyer Hydriomena impluviata D. & S.
• 1 Sharp-angled Carpet Euphyia unangulata Haw.
• 2 Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata Steph.
• 1 Freyer’s Pug Eupithecia intricata Zetter.
• 2 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata Haw.
• 2 Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata Linn.
• 1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata Linn.
• 2 Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria D. & S.
• 2 Light Emerald Campaea margaritata Linn.

Arctiidae

• 2 Hoary Footman Eilema caniola Hb.
• 2 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn.
• 2 Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum Hufn.

Noctuidae

• 6 Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis Linn.
• 2 Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta Hb.
• 1 Flame Axylia putris Linn.
• 1 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta Linn.
• 2