Well I put the trap out at my parents near Salem on saturday night and the 4am start was rewarded by a very good catch as others have had. I had got up to 53 species before I'd opened the trap and ended up with over 260 moths of 80+ species. Most exciting for me as I've never caught one before was a small elephant hawk (along with elephant and poplars) but there was a good selection of others too. Best of the bunch was probably a lovely alder kitten (plus a sallow kitten), dingy shell, oblique carpet, puss moth, campion, bordered white, female fox moth, diamond-back (x15) and a few other micros including Aspilapteryx tringinpennella and Mompha locupletella. White ermines were the commonest with 17 followed by peppered with 16. I also caught a fair few pugs which I've struggled (mostly unsuccessfully) with so would appreciate some help please!
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Pug 1
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Pug 2
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| Pug 3 |
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| Pug 4 |
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| Pug 5 |
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| Pug 6 - Angle-barred? |
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| Pug 7 |
Other than that I caught a cockchafer, 3 Black sexton beetles (
Necrodes littoralis), a couple of soldier beetles (
Cantharis rustica & Cantharis cryptica/pallida) as well as the huge stonefly
Perlodes mortoni.
photo of Poplar Kitten, please
ReplyDeleteSorry, meant sallow kitten (now amended)
DeletePug 1 = Mottled.
ReplyDeletePug 3 = Oak-tree.
Pugs 2, 4 & 5 are *probably* Grey.
Pug 6 does look good for Angle-barred, would be a good record I think.
Pug 7 = Common.
Brilliant, thanks very much George - I did try with them all (and suspected the common and oak-tree) but my heart still sinks when I see too many pugs in a trap! Unfortunately my ocd side hates any getting away un-identified...
DeleteYes stick with them - there aren't really too many options when you exclude rare species and those out of season.
ReplyDeleteI think the main issue with pugs is that they are often worn when the arrive in the trap. When fresh they're a lot easier.