Moths of August 2010 (4 Viewers)

[Dmacaskill]

What a difference a week makes ! my last two catches (mid week and last night) are way down with species halved (23 +21) and numbers dwindled right down to about a quarter of the usual haul (58 +44).As this is my first season trapping i have no previous experience of what to expect in terms of species and numbers throughout the year ,i did expect to see a drop off in numbers at the end of summer but is this rapid decline the norm? or is it weather related? we have had some very cool nights lately.

Dean.

 

[KenM]

I ran my UV last night...noting the clear skies and cool temperatures, and saw an Old Lady flying around the window, and a shell. However upon inspection this am...I found a fat zero in the trap! Indeed the only moth in the near vicinity was a Willow Beauty on the patio door glass. How did everyone else fare?

cheers :-C

 

[robhope]

A quick walk round a sunny West Dean Woods gave a new lifer for me - Evergestis pallidata (not the best photo). I also took some good close ups of several butterflies.

Very poor return from the trap last night - only a Cypress pug of any note.

robhope

Egrets, I've had a few

 

[honeym]

I ran a trap at the London Wetland Centre, Barnes (London SW13), last night and got 68 moths of 24 species - the bulk of the catch being Hoplodrinas and Square-spot Rustics.
The most numerous species, however, was wasps, with around 80 specimens! Luckily, no stings!!

Martin

 

[Andy1979]

48 moths of 17 species last night. However, did manage two new species for me:

Centre-barred Sallow
Feathered Gothic

 

[Oleander]

I ran my UV last night...noting the clear skies and cool temperatures, and saw an Old Lady flying around the window, and a shell. However upon inspection this am...I found a fat zero in the trap! Indeed the only moth in the near vicinity was a Willow Beauty on the patio door glass. How did everyone else fare?

cheers :-C

What is a cool temperature for you? Here it was 9 degrees at about 05:30 when I turned my two traps off and it was the most interesting catch in August! I got 5 new species, 3 of them ID'd by Svein and Chasty and two more that I ID'd myself:

Beautiful Arches
Great Brocade
August Thorn
Autumnal Rustic
Dark Sword-grass

Also had my second Clifden Nonpareil of the year and another beautiful Orache Moth. Totals of the night were 89 moths and 25 species.

 

[honeym]

Also ran a trap here at work (South Kensington, London). Don't have the full list but did get one species new for the site, which is a reasonable record for Middlesex - a fresh specimen of Agapeta zoegana.

Martin

 

[Nerine]

My last catch of over 200 moths and 55 species, a few nights ago, produced three nfy:

Grass Eggar
Red Underwing
Flounced Rustic

I had two pairs of young, helping hands assisting with the photos. Of course Poplar Hawk-moths were a favourite.

Nerine

 

[KenM]

mmmmm...am suitably miffed!...will run the MV tonight....fingers x'd.

cheers

 

[KenM]

What is a cool temperature for you? Here it was 9 degrees at about 05:30 when I turned my two traps off and it was the most interesting catch in August!

Kalle the temperature was probably the same c9-10 degrees for both nights!

However running the MV gave me an 800% improvement over the previous night. 8 moths of 6 species...Highlights..Lesser Swallow Prominent, Flame Shoulder and what I think might be Lesser Common Rustic?...Can someone confirm? :stuck:


cheers

 

[Oleander]

Lesser Swallow Prominent, Flame Shoulder and what I think might be Lesser Common Rustic?...Can someone confirm? :stuck:

cheers

I think you need to dissect the Common Rustics to be 100% sure.

I got one new species for me last night, a Mallow! Other than that nothing interesting, only about 20 moths in total.

 

[antshrike69]

Last night produced 2 more Old Ladies, Red Underwing, Poplar Hawk amongst others.

 

[robhope]

Iping Common

A quick walk around a windy Iping Common gave me another lifer today:

1) Crambus hamella

Moth trapping this year has yielded very poor results but species spotted whilst out and about have more than made up for it.

robhope

Egrets, I've had a few

 

[KenM]

Last night was windy and cool again...yielding 8 moths of 5 species...highlight being Brimstone!

cheers

 

[robhope]

August Moth caterpillars (they count!)

A selection of the most beautiful caterpillars I have seen this month:

1) Privet Hawk-moth - today at Amberley (a lifer for me again!)
2) Elephant Hawk-moth (penultimate instar) - my garden yesterday
3) Elephant Hawk-moth - my garden yesterday
4) Sycamore - my garden early August
5) Unknown - any ideas?

robhope

Egrets, I've had a few

 

[rokermartin]

The last one looks like a Bright- line Brown-eye.

 

[robhope]

The last one looks like a Bright- line Brown-eye.

Thanks, that fits the bill perfectly.

robhope

Egrets, I've had a few

 

[antshrike69]

Nice caterpillars!

Last night I had my first Orange Sallow of the autumn, alongside Centre-barred Sallows.

 

[Oleander]

Last night was very cold, when I turned my traps off at 7am it was only 5 degrees outside! In total it came 28 moths of 14 species, two new for the year.

Pink-barred Sallow
Ammoconia Caecimacula (a moth not seen in the UK)

 

[Andy1979]

I managed 18 species, including:

Centre-barred Sallow
Canary-shouldered Thorn (pic) (NFM)
Setaceous Hebrew Character
Flame Shoulder
Flounced Rustic
Six-striped Rustic