A mixed bag last night (26/9) at Pwll, with no hoped-for uncommon migrants, though silver ys again put on a good show (for this year, that is) with nine present - all in the actinic incidentally and none in the MV. (I`m not getting involved in the `Great Debate`!). A yellow-tail, a silky wainscot and a buff arches were all rather unseasonal, though I read that late dates are possible for these three moths. More timely was another l-album wainscot (a different, smaller individual to my last one), a large ranunculus and a FFY (for me) autumnal rustic.
Above: autumnal rustic.
Above: silky wainscot.
Above:
Eudonia angustea.
I also left a mains-powered actinic in a west Llanelli suburban garden last night where a pale mottled willow was caught, a particularly attractive one with orange speckling - or so I thought.
However, the latter speckles are actually mites and, if you left-click on the photo below, you can see that this is so.
All in the actinic, very interesting. Some of the chaps on fb have been trapping for many many years, and as I said in my previous post, they get the numbers in the MV, but variety in the actinic. They have several traps and go out to all types of locations. One of the chaps are only now switching over to his MV from his actinic since Jan, and he has done incredibly well with it. Horses for courses I think, and what works better in certain areas.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the horses for courses sentiment. In my urban garden an acitnic is hopeless as there is too much competing light polution and I need the brightness of an MV to 'pull them in'. But away from home, I often leave 2-3 mobile actinic and LED traps out overnight rather than staying out with the generator and MV. In terms of bang for your buck, you could buy quite a few 6W actinic traps and cheap batteries for the price of an MV kit and generator. And the advantage of multiple traps is that you can then set them in different areas/habitats to maximise your chance of a diverse species list.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updates.. i have seen these on the plants of my lawn but i never knew they were Acrolepia autumnitella , so thanks really for the post and keep increasing our knowledges ..
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