May 2009 Moths (1 Viewer)

[SveinB]

15 moths of 13 species here last night. A few NFY too:

Marsh Moth 2 (nfy)
Toadflax Brocade 1
Nut-tree Tussock 1 (nfy)
Spectacle 1 (nfy)
Flame Shoulder 1 (nfy)

Svein B

 

[aflickering]

As I was releasing the Green Carpet a while ago it flew back onto my t-shirt so I walked over to the window ledge on the shed and put him on it thinking it would fly away from there, as I have done on previous nights, no sooner had I put it on there when a huge spider came out from a corner pounced on it and dragged it back to its den. I was astounded and felt really guilty for putting it on there, I couldn't even try to help it as it happened so quickly. Needless to say I wont be putting anymore on there again.

sounds traumatic the only common white wave i've ever seen was in the process of being eaten alive by a spider - pretty much the whole thing was gulped up in a day or so.

also, last year i was looking at a large moth in a viewing pot (think it was a dark arches or something) and it was going absolutely nuts and wouldn't stop flapping for ages, and then i noticed a tiny spider in there with it, and as soon as i removed it the moth relaxed and just sat there for me. amazing how desperate such a small spider seemed to make it.

btw: 2 NFY last night, flame and small magpie.

 

[Surreybirder]

A few from last night, including my first male ghost swift. The others are NFY.

 

[SveinB]

Nice photos Ken, and especially the male Ghost Moth is such a beauty.

Svein B

 

[Nerine]

Nice photos Ken, and especially the male Ghost Moth is such a beauty.

Svein B

Lovely nfy's, Ken. Three there I would love to get!

I'm still trying to sort out a large catch from Thursday night in my loaned MV trap. I had about 140 moths and 35 species with about 10 nfy's.

(Spotted a Clouded Yellow yesterday amongst a steady stream of thousands of Painted Ladies flying along the coastal path. Some of the P L's were stopping on wild flowers and I saw one dropping down on wet seaweed for a while on the beach!)

Nerine

 

[antshrike69]

Clear and windy here last night, so numbers were well down.

The trap still managed a few new for the year though, including

Triple-spotted Clay 1 (I think, only 9 previous county records so need to check with the recorder but the hindwing looks right to me)
?Eulia ministrana - also to be confirmed!

Otherwise more of the same. Hopefully the wind will die down tonight, even though we are still forecast clear skies.

 

[antshrike69]

Forget the pics - doh!

 

[luke]

best night of the year so far in my garden last night

Clouded bordered Brindle 5
Rustic shoulder Knot 3
May Highflyer 3
Common Marbled Carpet 3
Small Pheonix 2
Brimstone 2
Brindled Pug 1
Bright line Brown Eye 1
Pale Shouldered Brocade 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Fox moth 1

 

[Surreybirder]

Provisional list from last night (till 11.15 p.m.)
pale tussock 4
brimstone 2
ghost moth (fem) 1
flame shoulder 8
small square-spot 7
Oligia sp. 1
C lacunana 1
heart & dart 2
sharp-angled carpet 1
shoulder-striped wainscot 2 (nfy)
silver-Y 1
setaceous Hebrew character 1
buff ermine 1 (nfy)
white ermine 1
Tortrix viridana
P xylostella 1
poplar lutestring 1 (nfy)
brown house-moth 1 (nfy)
Elophila nymphaeata 1 (nfy)
straw dot 1
snout (nfy)

+ a micro and five pugs that I'm looking at.

Not bad considering clear sky, half-moon and not particularly warm.
Ken

 

[antshrike69]

The wind dropped here last night and the trap was much busier as a result.

Several new for the year:

Elephant Hawk Moth 2
Treble Brown Spot 1
Maiden's Blush 1
Lozotaenia forsterana 1
Beautiful Golden Y 1

Also

Lime Hawk Moth 1
Angle Shades 2
Willow Beauty 2
and lots of the usual culprits!

 

[Nerine]

The robinson mv trap I am using at the moment is sending my head spinning. Both Thursday night and last night produced about 35 species and 140 moths in each catch, including masses of nfy's.

Thursday "new for the year" were:

Willow Beauty
Poplar Grey
Swallow Prominent
Knot Grass
Poplar Hawkmoth
Buff Ermine
Common Wainscot
L-Album Wainscot
Common Marbled Carpet
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Burnished Brass
Pebble Prominent
Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet
The Flame
Nutmeg
Rustic Shoulder-knot (new in my garden)

Last night's new for year:

Celypha lacunana
Rush Veneer
Light Emerald
Dark Spectacle
Lychnis
Dark Arches
Orange Footman
Yellow Belle (new in my garden)
Red Twin-spot Carpet

At this rate I'll be catching up to Ken soon

My photography isn't doing very well at the moment but I'll try and put in a few pics later if they are reasonable.

I'm exhausted!

Nerine

 

[Davebutterflyman]

Looks like they are keeping you busy Nerine! some good nfy's there.Pretty poor here last night as clear skies and quite a strong breeze forced me to retreat back to the comfort of the house!.

Buff ermine
Brimstone 2
Flame shoulder
Rustic shoulder-knot
Garden carpet

Plus an unidentified micro.

Dave.

 

[Surreybirder]

The robinson mv trap I am using at the moment is sending my head spinning. Both Thursday night and last night produced about 35 species and 140 moths in each catch, including masses of nfy's.


At this rate I'll be catching up to Ken soon



I'm exhausted!

Nerine

I should think that you are ahead of me! You've got several there that I've never seen.
I know what you mean about the head spinning. I only had the trap on for 1.5 hours last night and it took me about two hours to process the catch and photo the nfys (partly because I'm trying to build up my photo collection but also because my county recorder likes to see confirmation of my IDs). In my view, some of the common species, like buff ermine and silver-Y, which you can take for granted are still very attractive.
I look forward to your photos.

 

[antshrike69]

In my view, some of the common species, like buff ermine and silver-Y, which you can take for granted are still very attractive.

I agree completely - nice pics of a beautiful pair of moths.

 

[Nick Tanner]

I photographed this Toadflax Brocade at Berrylands Railway station near Surbiton on Friday, does anybody know what the status of this moth is in the London area? my bible Larger Moths of the London Area is 20 years old and I understand that TB is a recent colonist but I have no more info

Nick

 

[aeshna5]

I photographed this Toadflax Brocade at Berrylands Railway station near Surbiton on Friday, does anybody know what the status of this moth is in the London area? my bible Larger Moths of the London Area is 20 years old and I understand that TB is a recent colonist but I have no more info

Nick

About 3 years ago there were a lot of records in the London area + I had several larvae feeding on Purple Toadflax in my garden (also noted last year in my garden).

 

[antshrike69]

2 new macros last night:
Privet Hawk Moth - a real beast!
Cinnabar

Several micros to ID yet!

 

[aflickering]

1 NFY last night: small dusty wave

 

[SveinB]

The last days' warm weather has brought some summer species on the wings here in the Norwegian highlands too.

Friday I did find a male Emperor Moth in the mountains here, 950 m over sea level. On the same place I also found a few of the Netted Mountain Moth- Macaria carbonaria, and a Freija's Fritillary.

In the trap there has also been a few newcomers, or NFY:

Brimstone 2 NFY
Tawny Shears 1 NFY
Apamea illyria 1 NEW
Small Elephant Hawk 1 NFY
Iron Prominent 2 NFY


Svein B

 

[Davebutterflyman]

Cracking Emperor moth Svein!.

Last nights session produced seven nfy and despite the clear skies and falling temperature it turned out pretty well.

Bright line brown eye 6
Common marbled carpet 10
Scalloped hazel
Peppered moth
Silver-y-moth
Small angle shades
Common pug
Foxglove pug 5
Brimstone 12
Pale tussock 5
Light brown apple moth
Green carpet nfy
Flame carpet nfy
Pebble hook tip nfy
Aphomia sociella nfy
Red barred tortrix nfy
Apple pith moth nfy
Small dusty wave nfy

Green carpet.

Flame carpet.

Pebble hook tip