Moths at Saron

Not many moths for me. I did get a Dark Sword-grass and always nice to have Waved Carpet.

 

 

 

My (moth) visitors did n`t turn up!

 Wednesday and Thursday nights (11th & 12th June) were trumpeted online as being of potential for moth migrants (as it proved to be in SW England and elsewhere in the far south of England).  Not a single migrant - even a common species - turned up in my two garden traps (one MV, the other a mains-fed actinic). It was worthwhile though, as a decent mix of moths were trapped (for my current trap site), including some more local species including Ephestia woodiella, a pyralid that caused me some i/d difficulty as I`d somehow dismissed the genus Ephestia and its patterning/colouration did n`t quite fit other similar pyralids. In the end, George Tordoff put me out my misery and determined it.

Amongst the macro moths, a cypress carpet was nice to see.

Some non-moth records, caught within my traps also provided interest such as the little longhorn beetle Jubolia cerambyciformis. Photo below:

 - and, in case there are budding bank robbers amongst the Carmarthenshire Moth Group, don`t try to pinch my money. Here is my new security guard, Mr Hornet....he`s a big lad.

Last Night at Maenol

 45 moths of 24 species visited my small actinic trap last night in conditions which were reasonably favourable: overcast, cool, very little wind and no rain.  It was good to see a duo of doubles, Double Line and Double Dart, Small Seraphim and Dusky Brocade are also worthy of mention.

Double Line

Double Dart

I may well follow Sam's advice and put the trap out again on Wednesday evening - weather permitting!

Moths at Saron, Llandysul

 I have had a reasonable selection of the usual species for this time of year, including some I don't get very frequently - Broken-barred Carpet, Pebble Hook-tip, Fox Moth, Green Silver-lines, Least Black Arches, Devon Carpet and Small Seraphim. Very few micros so far but on Friday I was pleased to get Anania stachydalis (confirmed by Sam).  

 

 .

A cool, windy night...

 I thought that I`d give the trapping another go last night (Sat 31/5), but it became noticeably windier (and cooler) by the early evening. The resultant moth numbers and diversity in the actinic trap were very low indeed this morning with just 5 species, all singletons except for 7 heart and darts. The strong south-westerly did, however, blow in a sand dart to my suburban trap; it is a species that I regularly used to catch at my ex-coastal Pwll garden and it is a moth that Adam Dare continues to catch at his Burry Port trap site. It is a common species of Carmarthenshire`s depositional sandy coastline.

                                                          Above: sand dart at Llanelli.

A Gem...a quick post.

 My modest roof-top actinic yielded 21 species last night including lime, privet, eyed and elephant hawk-moths, a single dog`s-tooth and an equally solitary migrant - a gem (photo below). No sign of striped hawk-moths, which continue to turn up in SW England.

Saturday Night at Maenol

I used a small actinic trap in a sheltered spot on Saturday night (24/25 May) without much hope of success in damp, blustery conditions, and having missed out in the much more favourable climate the night before.  Nevertheless a handful of moths turned up, all regulars for the time of year - Peppered, Buff-tip, Ermines, Treble Lines, the latter being the most abundant (5).  I can't recall seeing such numbers of this species in previous years.  A longhorn was the only micro in the trap:

Nematopogon swammerdamella

The moth was 10mm long and the antennae at least twice that length.  I haven't often trapped this species but have often seen it in the garden, this year and in previous years.