After placing two lures in the garden at 2.45pm today, (11 Apr 2017) a male arrived by 3.30pm but did not land; it returned by 5.00pm, where I was able to get some lovely photographs. I initially tried the lures out in the garden end of last week, and saw it fly over several times.
Emperor Moth (male) - Saturnia pavonia
Also splendid and well done with a different technique. Perhaps you could post a couple of pix showing the lures in use, for those of us who have never tried this method.
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Thanks Steve. I shall post some pics tomorrow. They are small rubber bungs impregnated with female pheremone. I bought two from ALS, £8.00 per lure. They arrive in a small plastic zip bag (similar to a sandwich bag), keep them in their individiual bags, so as not to cross contaminate, then while keeping them in their individual bags, put them in a small air tight tub, (I use one of the cylindricle moth tubs from ALS), and keep in freezer. They come with instructions and last approx 3yrs if stored correctly, they mustn't get wet or get condensation on them. When you want to use them, take them out of freezer approx 20mins before use. I don't touch them, but use the small bag they each come in to gently place them on the tip of an upward facing branch.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jacqueline, very interesting. I'm not sure what happened in my comment above, I think I must have dozed off - this can happen when one reaches a certain age.....
ReplyDeleteThese sound similar to Clearwing lures, which I have singularly failed with. Luckily I have caught Emperor at MV at Cnwc, so don't need to worry 🙃
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Steve, don't worry, I didn't notice! Yes they are Sam. They don't come with guarantees, but certainly worth a try. The Emperor lure worked for me, like the mv worked for you. I only trap in my garden, so it's a good record to have for this area.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff indeed and well done again. I`ve had mixed fortunes with clearwing lures, usually of disappointment. Mostly (but not entirely) the species for which they`ve worked for me are clearwings you can find anyway: eg thrift clearwing on thrift, or six-belted found by sweeping bird`s-foot trefoil etc.
ReplyDeleteI`ve still got my lures in the freezer (from almost a decade ago!)...I may re-try them.
Trapped at a Llanelli garden last night 11/4, with very mediocre results.
I've also bought a clearwing lure, and in hindsight I am sure I had a clearwing last summer on the Hemp Agrimony in the garden, but didn't realise what it was at the time. I have bird's-foot trefoil in the garden, so I will keep a look out. Here too it's been the same until Tues, when I had the Emperor in the afternoon, and that night two more firsts, Purple Thorn and Least Dark Arches. Last night (Weds) had more firsts. 1 x Iron Prominent, 2 x Small Pheonix and went from 1 to 3 Least Dark Arches. Didn't put trap out til 11.00 pm. Glad I did. Let's hope it continues for us all.
ReplyDeleteContinuing your great start - well done indeed! Should one assume that you meant to type Least Black Arches (as illustrated in Ian's blog of 9 April)? Fear not, no-one has had more typos on this blog than me, plus I am the Carms expert at misidentifying micros - I can turn the commonest little moths into extreme rarities with the greatest of ease!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve, yes it should read Least Black Arches. I'll see if I can amend it. Don't worry Steve, it happens to all of us, as you can see, that's how we learn, me included!!
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