MOTHS GALORE

Sunday's weather was glorious with the temperature above 15°C, and what did that imply? Well simply that there ought to be a few more moths about that night. So the trap was switched on and I could not resist a few visits during the late evening to see if there were any moths. It was in fact a bit like being at Heathrow - probably even more busy than there, but off the top of my head I don't know how many plans arrive there overnight.

So, let's start with a few facts and figures. There were 318 moths in the trap this morning (including those sitting on the walls, etc...). 188 of these were Small Quaker moths, and in total there were 22 species.
Six other species were in double figures, these being Common Quaker 33, Hebrew Character 24, Oak Beauty 15, March Moth 15 and Chestnut 11.

When I look back to my records for this time last year, I see that I only ran the trap 4 times in March and only caught 26 moths in total and it was not until mid April that I caught large numbers of this species and then only just over 100.

No new moths for the site, but a fresh Acleris literana was a pleasant surprise.


Acleris literana

During the day, I spotted a hairy caterpillar sunning itself on a Periwinkle leaf and took the following photo. It is clearly one of the "Tiger" moths larvae, but so far I have not been able to identify it.

Larva to I.D.

March(ing) on

The trap has been on only 4 times in March, based generally on the supposed overnight temperature.

The month is progressing and the numbers of moths gradually increasing, but no new species for the site so far.

On Thursday 6th there were only 8 moths, of 7 species, but on Saturday 8th this increased to 23 moths of 8 species, one of them being an over-wintering Ypsolopha ustella. However, the disappointment of this catch spurred me on to try again on Sunday night (9th) and the catch was much improved.
There were 47 moths of 10 species, including a fairly early Shoulder Stripe - only my second one here - and all the usual suspects of the early part of the year, including a Clouded Drab, not a nice name for a quite variable moth - one that has not been featured here before, well, that I discover by chance is not true - but it does not appear on the label list.

So, on Friday night, with the promise of 8° overnight (which I think was actually only 6) the trap went on and there were 48 moths (8 species) this morning. 35 of these were Small Quaker and there was a Pale Pinion, Twin-spot Quaker and an Early Grey. Unlike Mike, I rarely get Mottled Grey here, due mainly to habitat difference.

So, no photos from me today, as everything in the trap has already featured here, but you can find a picture of a Clouded Drab by clicking on Pale Pinion on the list and seeing it on the same page!

Fresh arrivals

The warmest day of the year bought Peacock, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell onto the wing in Batch Valley. This was followed by a cloudy warm night, the perfect time to put out the mothtrap. I was not to be disappointed, with 25 moths of 12 species, easily the best catch of the year.

The commonest moth was the Mottled Grey, a species I caught in quite large numbers in spring last year.

Mottled Grey

Half of the species were making their first appearance this year, though most were expected. This included some wonderfully fresh Hebrew Characters, a real crowd-pleaser.

Hebrew Character

I also recorded single Common Plume, Small Quaker and Clouded Drab, the first records of this year. The other new species for the year was Early Grey, with three of these beautiful moths.

Early Grey

There were still some 'hangers on', species I have been recording for the last couple of weeks. There were two Red Chestnuts, a moth I record here in good numbers, along with single examples of The Satellite, Chestnut, March Moth and Dotted Border. The last of these is a species I record occasionally in the late winter, but I had not until now secured a reasonable photograph of.

Dotted Border

Two Beauties

Put the trap on last night for the first time in February - and only the second time in 2014.  Well, it was the most promising night with a reasonable temperature forecast.

But there were only 4 moths on the trap this morning, 2 x Pale Brindled Beauty and 2 x Oak Beauty.

And on the porch door early this evening an Agonopterix heracliana, a common micro-moth which has featured here before, but the photo was not very good, so here is a better one.

Agonopterix heracliana

In total I have only seen 9 moths this year and the forecast for the next few nights is low temperatures.

Last year, in January and February I saw 92 moths before the end of February, having run the trap on 6 occasions.

A few more

There were a few more moths in the trap last night. Four of these were macro moths, with another Chestnut, along with the first Dotted Border and Pale Brindled Beautys of the year. There were also four micro moths, - Tortricodes alternella, the commonest micro here at this time of year.

Pale Brindled Beautys can be quite variable moths, as these two individuals show.

Pale Brindled Beauty

Pale Brindled Beauty

Ruby, ruby, ruby, ruby

Relentless storms, horizontal rain, gale-force winds and ice cold nights. It is enough to make you want to stay inside and curl up in front of the fire. Plenty of creatures do not have that choice of course, braving out the winter, and it may surprise you to learn that this includes caterpillars no bigger than your little finger.

Ruby Tiger larva

This Ruby Tiger larva was crawling up my wall today, seemingly brought out by the sunshine. It is one of a small number of moths which overwinter in their larval stage. How do they do it without turning to ice? It seems that moths use strategies to survive. One is having their own form of antifreeze, which enable them to survive freezing temperatures, with the larva rolling into tight furry balls when temperatures are below freezing. Ruby Tiger larva are also polyphagous, meaning they literally eat many things, so when they feed they have a wider choice of herbaceous plants.

Ruby Tiger larva

I left the caterpillar to slowly continue on its way, pleased with another addition to the garden moth list.

That old Chestnut

A happy new year from Batch Valley also. After a hiatus of a couple of months the moth trap was out again. The endless bad weather brightened a little, with a stiller night and less rain.

Proof that moths were surviving the winter was provided as four made their way to the trap. Three of those were Spring Ushers, the same moth found by Graham a few days ago.

Spring Usher - a paler example

The other was a Chestnut, a case of the old familiar. This is one of several moths that can be found right throughout the winter, and is always a contender if the trap is out between autumn and spring.

Chestnut

These moths made a cameo performance at today's Strettons Community Area Wildlife Group AGM. We have several new people signed up for this years Moths in YOUR Garden surveys, so we have new places to visit once the moths start to play.