Welcome to the recording blog for the Carmarthenshire Moth and Butterfly Group. Could members please add any moth or butterfly records or any general items of interest by making a new post. Although everyone can comment on a post you will have to be a member to add a new post.
I had this stunning Oak Nycteoline beside the trap a few nights ago.
I posted it on a recorders page and the identification was questioned, but I don’t know what else it could be. I think it must be f.lichenodes perhaps Ian or Sam could confirm?
Happy Christmas everyone
Surprised to encounter a very mobile Painted Lady butterfly on 2nd December near the Ski centre at Pembrey Country Park
Given the BBC forecast of warm southerly winds, I put out my actinic on both Friday and Saturday evenings, leaving it out overnight. The Friday night catch was mediocre with just a limited mix of resident species - in other words, no migrants. Nevertheless, I put out the trap again on Saturday, reckoning that any moths of interest would take some time to reach here and, of course, the southerlies were forecast to continue into Sunday. I put the actinic on its usual (flat) roof-top position sometime before 5.30 pm and, as I felt tired, went to bed for almost an hour.
The trap was inspected at 6.20pm and no moths were visible but, as I descended the ladder I spotted a smallish moth resting on the inner side of the trap, but hidden by the wooden cross-bar that supports the linear actinic bulb. I had n`t seen this species before! It was a difficult task to carefully pot it up - and I`ve lost potentially interesting skittish moths before, leading to cursing on my behalf.
It looked vaguely familiar and on a hunch I looked at photos of Levant blackneck - and it was that! I had recently viewed online photos of sightings in southern England but often, as we know, such exotic African or Mediterranean migrants do not reach my Carmarthenshire trap. Not a bad find if there is only a solitary moth in the trap. It may be new to Wales (to be checked). PS - it was subsequently confirmed as a 1st Welsh record.
Soon afterwards a diamond-back arrived, as did a dark sword-grass, plus a couple of resident species.
Photos below, with a feathered thorn as size comparison in the last photo.
I spotted this micro resting inside my kitchen window (the adjacent door was open) last Thursday (14/11/24). It is Psychoides filicivora, common enough in Carmarthenshire but the late date is of interest.
Given the good result on 5th November, I re-tried the following night but little of note, though 4 dark sword-grasses and a few silver y`s represented the migrants.
Some may recall my protracted and highly frustrating wait to catch a Clifden nonpareil a few years back, in spite of several other moth trappers having success locally. The same applied to Radford`s flame shoulder, of which a lot have been caught in southern Britain in recent months including here in Carmarthenshire, where Arfon Williams in particular has been spectacularly successful with his north Carmarthenshire catches, including the afore-mentioned Radford`s flame shoulders.
Whatever, I was lucky last night (5th November), with a slightly worn, but instantly recognisable, one awaiting me this morning in my actinic trap. There were other migrants also present.
Arfon tells me that last night, in or near his trap near Ffarmers, he also (ie as well as some more regular migrants) had another Spoladea recurvalis and Diasemiopsis ramburialis, the latter being found hidden in a nook within the porch where the trap had been placed.
Some more migrants last night, this time at Llanelli. Highlights were 2 x scarce bordered straws and a single delicate; also 2 x dark sword-grasses and several silver ys.
