More moths 20/21 March

With some warmer weather and a hint that the night could become cloudy I put the moth trap out and gained almost instant success when a largish moth on the window proved to be a Twin-spotted Quaker, only the second I have seen.

Twin-spotted Quaker

I was therefore very optimistic this morning as I stepped outside to check the trap. The immediate surroundings were disappointingly devoid of moths, so it was all down to what was in or on the trap.

Two hours later I had recorded 40 moths, but only five more species. Most were Common Quakers (26), plus Small Quakers (eight). However there were some new ones for the year including one, a micro identified as Acleris literana which is a lifer.

Acleris literana

I had vaguely decided I wasn't going to put myself through the stress of trying to identify micros this year, but this one looked pretty distinctive.

Other firsts for the year were a Light Brown Apple Moth (another micro), and three Hebrew Characters.

Hebrew Character

Ironically, there was no sign of the Twin-spotted Quaker which had been returned to the utility room window by the time I went to bed.