Lindfield Moth Diary - November ’07

e-mail: moths@littlesnails.com

Friday 30 November 2007

Weather: Cald and clear to start, mild and overcast by dawn.

Day 202… Hoping to catch something exciting to see out the month, but to no avail, though it was a little surprising to see the two carpets even if the Common Marbled Carpet was terribly worn, the Red–green Carpet, meanwhile, looked as fresh as a daisy. The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

2 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

1 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Red–green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata Hufn.
3 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Thursday 29 November 2007

Weather: Mild, heavy, continuous rain, windy.

Day 201… The trap got a real drenching last night but that didn’t seem to deter the moths too much, not quite as many as last night but we did get a little more variety! The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

4 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

3 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
2 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
2 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Sprawler Brachionycha sphinx Hufn.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Wednesday 28 November 2007

Weather: Mild, damp, light winds.

Day 200… Day 200! that really should be an appropriate moment for a spot of reflection, but hey, haven’t got time for that at the moment - maybe save it for the end of the year? Lots of moths (in the scheme of things), though not much variety. The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

8 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

2 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
2 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
6 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Tuesday 27 November 2007

Weather: Reasonably mild, clear spells at first, damp drizzly and misty later, Still.

Day 199… Not much seemed to be going on around the trap during the evening, so things must have picked up a little when the damp weather arrived. On the strength of what we found in the trap this morning I can only conclude that the December Moth is the new Large Yellow Underwing, and to think I thought we would be lucky if we only saw one. The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

5 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

1 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
3 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Tortricidae

1 Acleris hastiana Linn.

Monday 26 November 2007

Weather: Cold, partly cloudy, no frost, Still.

Day 198… Even at this time of year it was a bit too chilly for most. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

2 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
2 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Sunday 25 November 2007

Weather: Cold, overcast with occasional fine drizzle, clearing later, light wind.

Day 198… Not perfect conditions but there again, what are perfect conditions at this time of year? Any moth that naturally flies in late November is surely prepared to put up with far more of what would normally thought of as less than ideal (sub-prime?) conditions than those that fly in the warmer months, after all, cold and damp is par for the course about now. Or not as the case may be… The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

2 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

1 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Saturday 24 November 2007

With temperatures forecast to fall to -4° C or more and with clear skies and a full moon I thought better of it.

Friday 23 November 2007

Weather: Cool, thin cloud cover to start, becoming colder with light showers later, light wind.

Day 197… Much drier (good), somewhat colder (not so good), than the past couple of nights, nevertheless a reasonable variety of moths still bothered to turn up, nothing new though. The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

1 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

2 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
1 Epirrita Sp.
1 Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria Cl.
1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Sprawler Brachionycha sphinx Hufn.

Thursday 22 November 2007

Weather: Mild, heavy showers, windy.

Day 196… Cooler, possibly wetter and windier than last night. Consequently and unsurprisingly we didn’t catch as many moths but we did get some, which is something I suppose. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

6 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Epirrita Sp.
1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Wednesday 21 November 2007

Weather: Mild, steady rain before midnight, drier later, light wind.

Day 195… For some reason I had it in my head that we were due a predominantly dry night so when I put the trap out and it was raining I ignored it thinking it wouldn’t last. Seven hours later it had more or less stopped only to be followed by occasional showers ’til dawn. Loobi and I went out in the morning to inspect a very soggy trap to find that it had all been worth the wetting as we had caught twenty moths, making it our biggest catch since 16 October! OK, so there were seven each of Light-brown Apple Moth and Scarce Umber (scarce in name only seemingly) but we also had our first December Moth (only the second member of the Lasiocampidae family we’ve seen), as well as an equally seasonal Winter Moth and an Acleris hastiana. The catch was as follows:

Lasiocampidae

1 December Moth Poecilocampa populi Linn.

Geometridae

7 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.

Tortricidae

1 Acleris hastiana Linn.
7 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Pyralidae

1 Rusty Dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis Hb.

December Moth Winter Moth

Acleris hastiana

Monday 19 & Tuesday 20 November 2007

Cold and very wet - not worth wasting the electricity.

Sunday 18 November 2007

Weather: Cold, overcast, windy.

Day 194… At last, a night without frost in prospect, so out with the trap in the firm expectation of catching all sorts of interesting late autumn or winter species. Hmm… one small Caddis-fly was all that could be bothered.

Thursday 15 to Saturday 17 November 2007

Clear skies and hard frosts every night would have made putting the trap out little more than a waste of electricity.

Wednesday 14 November 2007

Weather: Cold, partial cloud, light wind.

Day 193… The less than perfect conditions were were no doubt culpable for the magnificent three moths (all geometrids) in the trap, at least one of them was our first Scarce Umber which makes up for an awful lot. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Scarce Umber Agriopis aurantiaria Hb.
1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Epirrita Sp.

Scarce Umber

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Weather: Cold, clear, frosty & still to start, milder, cloudy, wet & windy by early morning.

Gave the trap a night off.

Monday 12 November 2007

Weather: Cold, frosty, clear, still.

Day 193… I didn’t realise a frost had been forecast (the temperature was expected to drop to -2° C) or I wouldn’t have put the trap out, but I did, and remarkably we caught four rather sorry looking moths. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
1 Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria Cl.

Noctuidae

1 The Sprawler Brachionycha sphinx Hufn.

Sunday 11 November 2007

Weather: Cool, cloudy, breezy.

Day 192… Another night of low expectation, so low in fact that catching seven moths came as a pleasant surprise. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
1 Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria Cl.

Noctuidae

1 Yellow–line Quaker Agrochola macilenta Hb.
1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Saturday 10 November 2007

Weather: Mild, mostly overcast, windy.

Day 191… Milder and calmer than last night (though still fairly windy) but the moths didn't seem to notice. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Red–green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Sprawler Brachionycha sphinx Hufn.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Friday 09 November 2007

Weather: Cold, Very heavy rain early evening, clear later, very windy.

Day 190… Well, I put the trap out thinking we were in for another night like last night - a little windier, yes, but still mild. No more than half an hour later we were in the midst of an intense squall, lasting about fifteen minutes, the rain continued for another hour or so after that and then the skies cleared and the temperature plummeted! Remarkably we still caught four moths! The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Red–green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Sprawler Brachionycha sphinx Hufn.
1 Merveille du Jour Dichonia aprilina Linn.

Thursday 08 November 2007

Weather: Mild, mostly overcast, still.

Day 189… The weather forecast suggested a mild dry night so, encouraged, I put the trap out and as we found, I'm glad I did. We didn’t get a great number of moths but we did get two new species, both micros: Acleris ferrugana - apparently very similar to other species but in this case the two tiny black tufts behind the head appear to be the clincher, the other new species has, as yet, defied identification which is a little irritating as it would seem to be fairly distinctively marked. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Red–green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata Hufn.
1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
2 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
2 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata Linn.

Noctuidae

1 Silver Y Autographa gamma Linn.
1 Merveille du Jour Dichonia aprilina Linn.

Tortricidae

1 Acleris ferrugana D. & S.
1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Unknown

1 Unidentified

Acleris ferrugana Unidentified

Wednesday 07 November 2007

Weather: Cool, mostly clear, windy.

Thought it was going to be cold and frosty (it wasn’t as it turned out) so I didn’t bother with the trap.

Tuesday 06 November 2007

Weather: Cool, occasional light rain, windy.

Day 188… The morning after the night before, so to speak, and there was still a slightly smoky, sulphurous residue in the air. It didn’t seem to have any effect on the moths, they still came, not many it’s true, but we did have another new species which is I believe Eudonia angustea, I’m not quite sure what else it could be. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.

Noctuidae

1 The Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
2 Blair’s Shoulder–knot Lithophane leautieri Boursin.

Pyralidae

1 Eudonia angustea Curtis

Eudonia angustea

Monday 05 November 2007

Weather: Cold, occasional cloud, still.

Day 187… Not quite cold enough for a frost but certainly cold enough to keep all but the hardiest of moths away. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

2 Epirrita Sp.

Noctuidae

1 Yellow–line Quaker Agrochola macilenta Hb.

Tortricidae

1 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Sunday 04 November 2007

Weather: Cool, partly cloudy, misty by morning, still.

Day 186… More of the same really, cool conditions and not many moths. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
2 Epirrita Sp.

Noctuidae

1 The Brick Agrochola circellaris Hufn.
1 The Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
2 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.

Pterophoridae

1 Beautiful Plume Amblyptilia acanthadactyla Hb.

Tortricidae

2 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

Saturday 03 November 2007

Weather: Cool, overcast, still.

Day 185… Slightly milder conditions but no great upturn in numbers, we did get another new species; The Brick, it must be a bit miserable being a small brown moth with a name as unimaginative as that - is it a comment on its colouring or its flying abilities I wonder?. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
2 Epirrita Sp.
1 Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria Cl.

Noctuidae

1 The Brick Agrochola circellaris Hufn.
1 Red–line Quaker Agrochola lota Cl.

The Brick

Friday 02 November 2007

Weather: Cool, partly cloudy, breezy.

Day 184… Somewhat cooler than last night and as Loobi and I found when we examined the trap’s contents there were slightly fewer moths too, nothing new to report either. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
2 Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria Cl.

Noctuidae

1 Red–line Quaker Agrochola lota Cl.
1 Green–brindled Crescent Allophyes oxyacanthae Linn.
3 Merveille du Jour Dichonia aprilina Linn.

Thursday 01 November 2007

Weather: Very mild, overcast, light breeze.

Day 183… A very mild night and the moths turned up in good numbers (for the time of year) including three Merveille du Jour - commoner than Large Yellow Underwings! We also had another new species, The Satellite, to start the month in a little bit of style. The catch was as follows:

Geometridae

4 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata Hufn.
1 Red–green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata Hufn.
1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria Linn.
1 Spruce Carpet Thera britannica Turner

Noctuidae

2 Green–brindled Crescent Allophyes oxyacanthae Linn.
3 Merveille du Jour Dichonia aprilina Linn.
1 The Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
1 Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba Linn.

Tortricidae

3 Light-brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana Walker

The Satellite