Thursday September 27

For the first time in about four weeks I was able to put the moth-trap out following a rise in temperature. The night was still largely cloudless, but I was optimistic, and I was not to be disappointed.

It quickly became apparent that there were more moths about than recently, and this encouraged me to poach a few from the windows rather than just wait until the morning. This did mean that I missed one geometer which I suspected was something like a Spruce Carpet when it was resting on the perspex in the trap, but my attempts to pot it were so ham-fisted that it escaped into the night.

However, it is also true to say that of the 62 moths of 24 species eventually recorded, the seven I detained overnight turned out to involve five new species for the garden year-list (the other captures both being of Common Marbled Carpets). Perhaps I have been a bit too laid back in my approach.

So the first new species (and it was completely new to me) actually flew into our utility room and was caught there. It was a Barred Sallow, a very attractive moth. I released it to take its chances, which meant that in the morning I had to assume that the two Barred Sallows in the trap included the original moth.

Barred Sallow

I next potted what turned out to be another tick, a Brindled Green which was fluttering against the window of the utility room. Like the Barred Sallow my research into the status of the moth locally shows nothing to suggest it was an unusual capture.

Brindled Green

A couple of micro moths were next to be nabbed. The first was a rather non-descript tortrix which remained unidentified until mid-morning when I finally concluded it was a Rhomboid Tortrix. I should say that I haven't had any of the night's records verified by JS yet, and I would say this is in the highest danger of rejection. But they are supposed to fly in September, and I will be disappointed if it gets the boot....Which it did. JS reckons its a male Clepsis consimilana. Oh well, that's what mentors are for.

Clepsis consimilana - male

I actually caught several micro-moths, mostly tortricidae, overnight. This bucked the recent trend which had seen micros all but disappear.

Another micro caught on the window looked extremely non-descript. But come the morning it proved surprisingly easy to identify as a Lesser Wax Moth. Once again this was a lifer.

Lesser Wax Moth

It may be grey and boring, but there was nothing else like it in the book.

Finally, a loo break in the early hours found me potting another pyralid, this time in the bathroom. It reminded me of a Pyrausta aurata (I was half asleep and not wearing my glasses), so I was thrilled to find it was actually even more attractive than I had thought, and was a Gold Triangle.

Gold Triangle

Who says micros are boring? As far as I know, all the micros caught are common moths locally. Just new to me.

So I was well ahead on points by the time I finally got around to checking the trap. And it wasn't long before I was finding more garden year-ticks. The first was a Red-green Carpet. This was a first for the garden, but not for this blog because last year I disturbed and photographed another while I was birding in Winyates Green.

Red-green Carpet

The second was not a first for the garden (I saw one last year), and I recall seeing plenty of them when I went on a moth-trapping session in Coughton Park in 2016. It was a Straw Dot. In my attempt to photograph it on the inner wall of the trap I accidentally disturbed it and ended up pursuing it across the garden where I finally managed some kind of record shot.

Straw Dot

This is a pretty small moth, technically a macro, but not much larger than the Gold Triangle.

The rest of the catch comprised the usual suspects, the bulk being 18 Large Yellow Underwings, and nine Lunar Underwings. Four Marbled Carpets varied in looks as only Common Marbled Carpets can, only one being the easy form with a large panel of orange across the forewing. The others looked like this:

Common Marbled Carpet

Surprising finds were two Carcina quercana, my first for months. They apparently sometimes have a second generation, and the two in the trap looked pretty fresh. A Clepsis consimilana looked worryingly similar to the Rhomboid Tortrix, but seemed slimmer in shape. I have asked JS to verify it.

Clepsis consimilana

Four Light Brown Apple Moths represented a return to form, as did single Celypha lacunana, and Codling Moth. I also photographed what I thought could be a second Codling Moth, but the photo is too bad to show, and does not support the identification. So I don't know what that was.

Many of the noctuids were very worn; a Copper Underwing, a Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, and a couple of Lesser Yellow Underwings. I also identified a worn Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, about a month since the last one. It escaped while I was trying to photograph it, but I think the identification is correct.

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

The glimpses of its underwing certainly show a broad black edge.

Other insects attracted to the light included three Common Wasps, a couple of large Daddy Long-legs', an Ichneumon Wasp of some sort, a small May-fly sp, and two Caddis-fly.

A single Red Admiral was the only butterfly seen, while birds were just the usual garden species.

PS I have adjusted the figures upwards this morning (28/9/18) due to find three more moths in the house last night, all of which must have arrived the night before. Another Lesser Yellow Underwing, a Small Dusty Wave, and a Twenty-plume Moth.