Some moths

 As predicted, my mothing this year has been much reduced, though the hot spell in June prompted me to undertake a series of trapping sessions (I did not trap once in May, and hardly so in April).

My west Llanelli garden provided orange footman and Haworth`s pug on 9.6.23 - I`ve had the latter Clematis-feeder annually for the last three years. A cream-bordered green pea graced the trap on two occasions (12.6.23 & 16.6.23) - there were numbers of the vaguely similar green oak tortrix Tortrix viridana around at the same time (an influx that had been also noted by others). Four sand darts on 13.6.23 and a small elephant hawk-moth on the same date were wanderers from the nearby coast (which is about a kilometre away) Previously I was on the coast at Pwll and I would get sand darts rather more frequently and the same applies to an Archer`s dart that turned up on 19.6.23 - again a wanderer or dispersing individual encouraged by the hot nights. The Calamotropha paludosa on 24.6.23 was similarly a wanderer, but this time from coastal wetlands. My leopards (of which there were three on 24.6.23) were from adjacent woodland. I also had a lime hawk-moth and clay triple lines during this period.

                                                     Above: cream-bordered green pea.

                                                                   Above: sand dart.

                                                                 Above: Archer`s dart.

Late June also saw me leave my actinic overnight in a garden in east Llanelli - at Erw-las, Llwynhendy, on the coastal grazing levels not far from WWT Penclacwydd. Here, and not unexpectedly, more Calamotropha paludosa (x4) were attracted to the trap, along with silky wainscots (x2). A short-cloaked moth was a nice surprise - this species is very much confined to SE Carmarthenshire. I was pleased too to catch Psychioides verhuella (x5), the first time I had caught adults, though I have (once only) seen the larvae - in contrast to P. filicivora, which is frequent, both as adults or larvae. The moth that pleased me the most however, was a currant clearwing, trapped overnight with a `TIP` pheromone lure; I had long suspected that this clearwing occurred at this site (a neighbour grew blackcurrants) so it made me happy to, at last, catch this what was a `bogey moth` for me! Use of pheromone lures also provided a few records of lunar hornet clearwing - at the ex-Morfa de-tinning works site at Morfa, Llanelli, at Cynheidre (N of Llanelli), at Llwynhendy and at a small raised bog site SE of Pont Abraham (M4).

Above: short-cloaked moth

Above: currant clearwing

Above: Psychioides verhuella