Saturday 19 May 2012

Rhoose Point

What a difference a warm, still night makes! 29 species in total, and a much greater number of moths overall.  New for the year include:
  • Common Marbled Carpet
  • Flame Shoulder
  • Green Carpet
  • Buff-tip
  • Treble Lines
  • Pebble Prominent
  • Waved Umber
  • Pale Tussock
  • Cochylis atricapitana
  • Rustic/Uncertain
 New for the garden were:
  • Aspilapteryx tringipenella
  • Swallow Prominent (pic below)
  • Possible Juniper Pug (pic below)
 Plus a couple of  migrants 3x Diamond-back Moths and a Silver Y.

Hopefully others will have caught a few more too!?
Swallow Prominent? - I have been known to get these confused with Lesser SP!


Juniper Pug?




7 comments:

  1. Seems early for Juniper Pug - books say July-Sept. Perhaps Larch Pug?

    I had 8 species, good by recent standards, with Pale Mottled Willow, Spruce Carpet and Epiblema cynosbatella new for the year.

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  2. Thanks George. They are tricky little blighters these Pugs aren't they? It is somewhat out of season for Juniper Pug as you say, but the pale patches behind the black spot seem to fit the bill (they are more obvious when looking at the fresh specimen than the photo). Given that I had 3 Diamond-backs on the same night, I wonder if there is a possibility that it is Juniper Pug that has blown in from somewhere warmer?

    I can't think of any stands of mature Larch locally either, but there are a few garden junipers I know of.

    Would be interesting to hear what Dave thinks.

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  3. My first impression was Oak-tree, but looking closer I agree with George, I'd say Larch Pug.

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  4. Thanks for looking at the Pug guys, much appreciated. I will put it down as Larch Pug, which is also a new one for me. As the wind has dropped a bit I'm just about to try out the 400w MV beast in the garden for the first time having cleared a spot where it won't bother the neighbours. I wonder what will turn up this time!

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  5. Although the discal spot isn't as prominent as usual, I'd also go with Dave's first impression and say this was Oak-tree Pug. The fascia are in the wrong place for Larch, but look good for OTP. The pale patch out from the discal seems a good character. Adam, same size or smaller than the Brindled Pugs you've presumably caught until recently?

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  6. Adam - I'd go with Barry and Dave on this, I've never seen Larch Pug so it was a bit of a stab in the dark!

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  7. Thanks again all - I do still have the Pug in the fridge in case anyone wants to take a closer look! Otherwise I will pop it down as OTP.

    Ran the 400w MV for a couple of hours last night, it brought in 20 species in that time. Conditions were pretty similar to Friday night in terms of wind speed and temp, and my gut feeling (although v hard to prove scientifically) is that it does generate a larger catch, but probably not sufficiently bigger to make it worthwhile running it regularly given the cost. Interestingly, the brighter light attracted 3 species and quite a number of individuals of parasitic ichneumonid wasps, and doubled the catch of both diamond-back and Silver Y's (but that could easily be a co-incidence!). I think I will use it on open sites away from home, and perhaps on nights when there is a lot of migrant activity.

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